I have been trying to go after more obscure objects these days, but there is not a lot rising now that are large enough for my secondary rig's shorter focal length. So I decided to go back and return to one of my first narrowband projects from three years ago; the Pacman Nebula (NGC 281 | Sh2-184). I had two major goals; one to resolve more detail and second, to pick up more fainter nebulosity off to the left of the image. Here was my first attempt three years ago:
https://www.astrobin.com/306597/NGC 281, IC 11 or Sh2-184 is a bright emission nebula and part of an H II region in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia and is part of the Milky Way's Perseus Spiral Arm. This 20×30 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, spanning over a larger area of 40 arcmin. Colloquially, NGC 281 is also known as the Pacman Nebula for its resemblance to the video game character.
Edward Emerson Barnard discovered the nebula in August 1883, describing it as "a large faint nebula, very diffuse." Multiple star 'B 1' or β 1 was later discovered by S. W. Burnham, whose bright component is identified as the highly luminous O6 spectral class star, HD 5005 or HIP 4121. It consists of an 8th-magnitude primary with four companions at distances between 1.4 and 15.7 arcsec. There has been no appreciable change in this quintuple system since the first measures were made in 1875.
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