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NGC 281

 

NGC 281

 

NGC 281 is a moderatly-sized fairly bright diffuse nebula in Cassiopeia, it is triangular-shaped with a dark intrusion on the western side. It resembles the famous North American Nebula in Cygnus minus the Florida Peninsula. The hydrogen in this region is excited by radiaton from the hot OB star within the cloud, thus producing the red glow showing up in color photographs. Some astrophotographers call NGC 281 the "Pacman Nebula" because of its resemblance to the icon of the well-known computer game.

Cassiopeia, zoom lens photograph.
NGC 281, Schmidt-Cassegrain photograph.

Exposure Data
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© 2010 Walter Koprolin