The Pacman Nebula
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NGC 281, the Pacman Nebula - a return to a familiar target in Cassiopeia. This time with a new setup and considerably more integration time, captured in the Hubble palette (HSO). The result is a view dominated by the warm red glow of ionized hydrogen and sulfur, punctuated by the brighter, subtly blue-grey core where the young star cluster IC 1590 drives the entire nebula's energy.

What fascinates me most about this object are the dark Bok globules - dense dust structures silhouetted against the glowing gas, slowly being eroded by the intense radiation from IC 1590. They look like they are being consumed, and in a sense they are. But deep inside their cold, shielded cores, gravity may be quietly winning - collapsing gas into new stars, born from the same clouds being stripped away around them.

Scope: Askar 103APO
Lens: Askar 1.0x Flattener
Camera: ZWO ASI 294MC Pro
Filter: Antlia Tri-Band RGB Ultra
Mount: SkyWatcher AZ-EQ5-GT
Guiding: SkyWatcher Evoguide 50ED with ZWO ASI 224MC
Controller: ZWO ASIAir Pro
Focusser: ZWO EAF

Integration time: 6hrs 40min

Full version and print available at:
https://adfr.io/astro/20260407_ngc281

#astrophotography #nebula #ngc281 #pacmannebula #cassiopeia #narrowband #hubblepalette #hso #deepsky #nightsky #space #astronomy #astrography #astrophoto #stars #stargazing

Good Thursday morning. Weather improved yesterday evening so was able to set up the s50. Set the telescope to see #NGC281 #ThePacmanNebula again. These images are made up of 672 frames at 20 second duration exposures - 3 hours and 43 minutes total. It is a bit better than a 1 hour 32 minutes from an earlier observation, but never as details as the 46 1/2 minute duration observation with the onboard LP filter. #seestar #S50 #space #astronomy #amateur

The Pacman Nebula NGC 281, 9500 light years away. Processed and raw. #astrophotography #seestar #ngc281

Photo 1: Pacman Nebula (NGC 281)
Captured with a DWARF 3 smart telescope from Tennessee skies, this image reveals the Pacman Nebula’s glowing clouds of hydrogen and dark dust lanes devouring starlight like its pixelated namesake. The nebula sits about 9,200 light-years away in Cassiopeia and is a stellar nursery where new suns ignite amid cosmic chaos. The black "mouth" cutting through the red haze is a dense molecular cloud silhouetted against ionized gas—proof the universe has both beauty and bite.
Hashtags: #Astrophotography #DWARF3 #Nebula #PacmanNebula #NGC281 #Cassiopeia #DeepSky #Cosmos #SpacePhotography #AstroGear #TelescopeLife #StarNursery #AstroImaging #NightSky

Photo 2: Triangulum Galaxy (M33)
Captured with a DWARF 2 telescope, this shot of the Triangulum Galaxy—our Local Group neighbor about 2.7 million light-years away—shows its faint spiral arms swirling through a sea of stars. The pale green glow reveals hydrogen regions where new stars are born, while the galaxy’s subtle rotation hints at its cosmic dance with the Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies. Even from our tiny vantage point, this spiral whispers: everything spins, everything changes, everything burns bright before fading.
Hashtags: #TriangulumGalaxy #M33 #DWARF2 #DeepSkyAstro #GalaxyPhotography #LocalGroup #Astrophotography #Cosmos #SpaceArt #SpiralGalaxy #StarFormation #AstronomyLovers #TelescopeView

Continuing with the Moon and Sky Light Filter vs No Filter vs LP Filter, still using #NGC281 #ThePacmanNebula as our subject, processed images below. Places of images in my opinion - 1st - LP Filter, 2nd - Moon and Skylight Filter, 3rd -No Filter. #seestar #S50 #space #astronomy #amateur

Another test for the Moon and Skylight Filter vs No Filter vs LP Onboard filter on the s50. Using #NGC281 #ThePacmanNebula as the target. All images roughly the same duration. No question the onboard LP filter gets the most details. All these images are unprocessed. Will share the processed images as well. #seestar #S50 #space #astronomy #amateur

When you are imagining nebulas the s50 normally has the Light Pollution (LP) filter on. I wondered what the results would be with it off. Here is observations of #NGC281 #ThePacmanNebula with and without the LP filter. #seestar #S50 #space #astronomy #amateur

Next of the planned observation, went back to #NGC281 #ThePacmanNebula. #seestar #S50 #space #astronomy #amateur