NGC 281 is an H II region in the constellation of Cassiopeia and part of the Perseus Spiral Arm. It includes the open cluster IC 1590, the multiple star HD 5005, and several Bok globules. Colloquially, NGC 281 is also known as the Pacman Nebula for its resemblance to the video game character.

The nebula was discovered in August 1883 by E. E. Barnard, who described it as “a large faint nebula, very diffuse.” The multiple star HD 5005, also called \beta1, was discovered by S. W. Burnham. It consists of an 8th-magnitude primary with four companions at distances between 1.4 and 15.7 seconds of arc. 

Imaging telescopes or lenses: William Optics FLT 110 TEC
Imaging cameras: Atik 314L+
Mounts: Skywatcher EQ6 goto
Focal reducers: TMB Field Flattner for FLT
Filters: Baader Planetarium Ha 7nm, Baader Planetarium OIII, SII
Resolution: 1365×1011
Dates: Oct. 1, 2014
Locations: Observatoire “Le Pré des Étoiles”
Frames: 18×600″
Integration: 3.0 hours
Avg. Moon age: 6.54 days
Avg. Moon phase: 41.10%
RA center: 13.254 degrees
DEC center: 56.624 degrees
Pixel scale: 1.863 arcsec/pixel
Orientation: 92.443 degrees
Field radius: 0.439 degrees

Аuthor: Claude Roth

AstroPhotography of the day of SPONLI, 13.10.2014