NGC 281 · nebula

Pacman Nebula

NGC 281, IC 11 or Sh2-184 is a bright emission nebula and part of an H II region in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia and is part of the Milky Way's Perseus Spiral Arm.

RA00h 52m 59sDec+56° 37' 18"

Image: X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/S.Wolk; IR: NASA/JPL/CfA/S.Wolk. Source: JPL via images.nasa.gov.

Identity & coordinates

Identification

Primary designation: NGC 281
All designations: NGC 281 · Pacman Nebula
Object type: Nebula
Constellation: Cassiopeia
Best viewing: Autumn · Winter

Coordinates & physical

Right ascension (J2000): 00h 52m 59s
Declination (J2000): +56° 37' 18"
Apparent magnitude (V): —
Distance: —

III

Visibility tonight

The science

NGC 281, IC 11 or Sh2-184 is a bright emission nebula and part of an H II region in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia and is part of the Milky Way's Perseus Spiral Arm. This 20×30 arcmin sized nebulosity is also associated with open cluster IC 1590, several Bok globules and the multiple star, B 1. It collectively forms Sh2-184, spanning over a larger area of 40 arcmin. A recent distance from radio parallaxes of water masers at 22 GHz made during 2014 is estimated it lies 2.82±0.20 kpc from us. Colloquially, NGC 281 is also known as the Pacman Nebula for its resemblance to the video game character.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia · CC-BY-SA-4.0