NGC 281 – Pacman Nebula and surrounding dust

by skarba

1 Comment

  1. The Pacman Nebula (NGC 281) is a bright emission nebula located about 9,200 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia that gets its nickname from its resemblance to the classic video game character.

    [Higher resolution on Astrobin](https://app.astrobin.com/i/mkh74q)

    [My Instagram for more astrophotography](https://www.instagram.com/svajunas_s/)

    **Equipment:**

    * Telescope: Sky-Watcher Quattro 200P
    * Camera: Canon EOS 6D unmodified
    * Mount: Sky-Watcher NEQ6 Pro
    * Coma Corrector: Sky-Watcher Aplanatic
    * Guide Scope: Orion 50mm Mini
    * Guide Cam: ZWO ASI120MM Mini
    * Software: APT, PHD2, EQMOD, PixInsight

    **Acquisition:**

    * Dates: 2024-08-08, 08-12 and 2025-08-20, 09-02
    * Total integration: 11 hours 48 minutes
    * Lights: 236 x 180s at ISO 1600
    * Flats: 50
    * Bias: 200
    * Bortle 4

    **Processing:**

    * DynamicBackgroundExtraction
    * SpectrophotometricColorCalibration
    * CorrectMagentaStars script with a star mask
    * BlurXTerminator
    * DeepSNR v1 at full strength blended with the original image
    * StarXTerminator
    * GeneralizedHyperbolicStretch
    * ImproveBriliance script
    * CurvesTransformation with masks
    * DarkStructureEnhance script
    * Rescreen stars back after stretching them separately