The Pacman Nebula, NGC 281, is an emission nebula named for its resemblance, when viewed through a telescope, to the video game character. It surrounds the open cluster of stars IC 1590, which formed relatively recently (that is, in the last few million years). All are about 9,500 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia.

120 minutes L and 120 minutes RGB on 2014-11-21 plus 240 minutes H-a using an Astrodon 3 nm H-a filter on 2013-12-26 (blended with L and R), all using a QSI 583 from northern New Jersey through an Astro-Physics 155mm refractor at f7.1. North is to the left. ©2014

Detail from the above image.

The Pacman Nebula in narrowband hydrogen-alpha light.

240 minutes H-a using an Astrodon 3 nm H-a filter on 2013-12-26 using a QSI 583 from northern New Jersey through an Astro-Physics 155mm refractor at f7.1. North is to the left. ©2013

Detail from the above narrowband image.