The Pacman Nebula

Target

  • Name: Pacman Nebula

  • Designations: NGC 281, IC 11, Sharpless 184

  • Distance: 9,500 ly

Equipment

  • Camera: ASI184MC Pro

  • Telescope: Askar 80 PHQ

  • Filters: Optolong l-eXtreme dual narrow-band filter

  • Total Exposure Time: 4h 50m

  • Software: PixInsight, RC Astro Blur/Noise/StarXTerminator Plugins

The Pacman Nebula is a bright emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. This nebula is home to a quintuple star system - that’s a group of 4 smaller stars around one larger star! Couple that with how much it looks like the beloved video game character makes this a really fun target in the night sky.

This image was creating using 70 separate 2 minute exposures and 30 5 minute exposures. These photos were taking using a color camera and a filter that only allows two very specific wavelengths of light to pass through it and hit the camera sensor. All of the color you see in this image is the true color of this nebula.

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Cygnus Loop