NGC 281

Coordinates: Sky map 00h 52m 53.8s, +56° 37′ 29″
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
NGC 281
IC 11, Sh2-184,[3] Sharpless 184,[1] LBN 616, LBN 123.17-06.28, Pacman Nebula
See also: Lists of nebulae

NGC 281, IC 11 or Sh2-184 is a bright

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,[3] spanning over a larger area of 40 arcmin.[4] A recent distance from radio parallaxes of water masers at 22 GHz made during 2014 is estimated it lies 2.82±0.20 kpc (9200 ly) from us.[5] Colloquially, NGC 281 is also known as the Pacman Nebula for its resemblance to the video game character
.

arcsec
. There has been no appreciable change in this quintuple system since the first measures were made in 1875.

The nebula region is visible in amateur telescopes from dark sky locations. In his book Deep Sky Wonders, Walter Scott Houston describes the appearance of the nebula in small telescopes:[6]

"There was a faint glow in the immediate vicinity of the multiple star, with an occasional impression of a much larger nebulosity...Its surface brightness was much less than that of M33 in Triangulum or NGC 205, the distant companion of the Andromeda galaxy."
  • NGC 281 in the optical (red, yellow) and X rays (blue)
    NGC 281 in the
    X rays
    (blue)
  • Young open star cluster IC 1590, which is found within the star formation region NGC 281
    Young open star cluster IC 1590, which is found within the star formation region NGC 281
NGC 281 imaged by David McFeely. The image is an amalgamation of three monochrome images. Each monochrome image was taken at a different wavelength in the electromagnetic spectrum. Specifically, Sulphur II, Hydrogen Alpha, and Oxygen III. Each mono image has been assigned to one of the colour channels (red, green, blue). The combination of the wavelengths is referred to as a palette. The combination shown here is Nasa's Hubble Palette.
NGC 281: The Pacman Nebula in narrowband (SII/Ha/OIII) by David McFeely

References

  1. ^ a b c "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 281. Retrieved 2006-10-17.
  2. Bibcode:2001AAS...199.9116L
    .
  3. ^ a b "NGC 281". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  4. doi:10.1086/190049
    . Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  5. S2CID 118399182
    . Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  6. ISBN 978-1-931559-23-2
    .
Wikimedia Commons has media related to NGC 281.


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