The boring and flat Pacman nebula ....... no more!!

[swag72]

I have to say that I have avoided NGC281 (The Pacman nebula) for quite a few years as I have always found it to be very bland in the middle...... It seemed solid and boring and was not a target that showed me any reason to want to waste my time on it.

Well I relented after a conversation with Steve @steppenwolf and decided that I really would try to see if it really could be less boring and flat that I kept seeing. Armed with nothing more than extreme prejudice about one of the most boring objects in the sky in my opinion, I set about gathering lots of data.

I think that I've put my prejudice to bed... It's really not totally flat, boring and lifeless in the middle after all........ 

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 nebulosity is also associated with open cluster IC 1590, several Bok globules and the multiple star, B 1. A recent distance from radio parallaxes of water masers at 22 GHz made during 2014 is estimated it lies 9200 light years. from the Earth Colloquially, NGC 281 is also known as the Pacman Nebula for its resemblance to the video game character.

E. E. Barnard discovered this nebula in August 1883, who described it as "a large faint nebula, very diffuse." 

Details.
M: Mesu 200
T: TMB 152/1200 
C: QSI690  3nm Chroma narrowband filters

20x1800s in each filter (Ha, OIII and SII)

The total exposure is 30 hours.

You can see a larger res version on my website here 

 

[steppenwolf]

Worth a try eh? Yup, there's some detail in there - very nice, Sara!

[lux eterna]

I used to have the same feelings for Pacman, difficult and not much alive as I have seen it. Now it looks like you had the right first aid kit for it - a new Frankenstein is born !

Ragnar

[JemC]

Well you certainly busted your own theory on that one Sara 

A truly wonderful image,

[Charic]

Is that one your own images or one of Steve's! ..............hard to tell  

Nice one!

[wxsatuser]

Looks good to me, there is more in there than many can reveal.

[swag72]

52 minutes ago, steppenwolf said:

Worth a try eh? Yup, there's some detail in there - very nice, Sara!

Thanks Steve .......  

32 minutes ago, lux eterna said:

I used to have the same feelings for Pacman, difficult and not much alive as I have seen it. Now it looks like you had the right first aid kit for it - a new Frankenstein is born !

Ragnar

Thanks Ragnar.......... It certainly showed more than I had expected  

27 minutes ago, JemC said:

Well you certainly busted your own theory on that one Sara 

A truly wonderful image,

Many thanks!!! I'm pleased that you like it  

26 minutes ago, Charic said:

Is that one your own images or one of Steve's! ..............hard to tell  

Nice one!

Goodness..... I wasn't trying to copy anything that Steve had done..... 

12 minutes ago, wxsatuser said:

Looks good to me, there is more in there than many can reveal.

Many thanks! This one can be put to bed for a while at least!!

[Charic]

18 minutes ago, swag72 said:

Goodness..... I wasn't trying to copy anything that Steve had done..... 

That was not my intention,  humorously (there was a wink! ) I was  implying, " it's as good as! " ....... sorry if I'd mislead you?

Steve may have some competition here. 

[sloz1664]

Fabulous detail Sara. Me thinks you like the TMB 152/1200. 

Steve

 

[swag72]

2 hours ago, Charic said:

That was not my intention,  humorously (there was a wink! ) I was  implying, " it's as good as! " ....... sorry if I'd mislead you?

Steve may have some competition here. 

Steve has no competition from me!!  

2 hours ago, sloz1664 said:

Fabulous detail Sara. Me thinks you like the TMB 152/1200. 

Steve

 

Thanks Steve - Have you noticed that I rather like the TMB?  

[ollypenrice]

I've never previously liked this nebula, partly because of its name (video games, get real!!!) and, more significantly, because I've never been able to take a respectable picture of it! You have done so without doubt and my opinion of this nebula has improved as a consequence. I do think it's a narrowband target and you've done it proud. You've relieved* the flatness. Bravo!

Olly

*Relieved/relief - get it? Sorry, once an English teacher, always... etc. Gettin' me coat. 

[carastro]

Very nice rendition Sara, its funny how we get fixed ideas about certain targets and there are still a few I have refused to do because I think they are boring and not worth the trouble.  Maybe one day I might get around to them.  

Carole 

 

 

[Barry-Wilson]

Lovely and delicate processing Sara - I especially like to subtle colouring within the central OIII areas and around the prominent Bok.

Very well done indeed, quite spectacular and beautiful .

[MikeODay]

Wonderful image Sara.   Well done on an another beautiful and interesting image.

[swag72]

10 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

I've never previously liked this nebula, partly because of its name (video games, get real!!!) and, more significantly, because I've never been able to take a respectable picture of it! You have done so without doubt and my opinion of this nebula has improved as a consequence. I do think it's a narrowband target and you've done it proud. You've relieved* the flatness. Bravo!

Olly

*Relieved/relief - get it? Sorry, once an English teacher, always... etc. Gettin' me coat. 

 I know what you mean about the central relief  Thanks for your comments Olly - You're almost coming round to NB, you should give it a go  

10 hours ago, carastro said:

Very nice rendition Sara, its funny how we get fixed ideas about certain targets and there are still a few I have refused to do because I think they are boring and not worth the trouble.  Maybe one day I might get around to them.  

Carole 

Thanks for your thoughts Carole....... I totally get where you are coming from! The Monkey Head is another image for me that I think is terribly bland and flat...... I'm having a go at that too!!! 

9 hours ago, Barry-Wilson said:

Lovely and delicate processing Sara - I especially like to subtle colouring within the central OIII areas and around the prominent Bok.

Very well done indeed, quite spectacular and beautiful .

Many thanks Barry! Very kind of you to say   

7 hours ago, MikeODay said:

Wonderful image Sara.   Well done on an another beautiful and interesting image.

Thanks Mike   Glad that you like it.

[carastro]

Quote

 The Monkey Head is another image for me that I think is terribly bland and flat

That's exactly the one I had in mind.  Great minds and all that....

Carole 

[swag72]

1 hour ago, carastro said:

That's exactly the one I had in mind.  Great minds and all that....

Carole 

I'll let you know how i get on! It's a two pane mosaic and there's not much scope time on the horizon at the moment with this weather.

[Ruud]

Top class, Sara! Amazing!

[ultranova]

The bigger version on your website is stunning Sara

so much detail and the colours are beautiful.

well done

Paul

[Filroden]

I can only echo earlier comments. This is a striking Pacman. Subtle colour gradients but still bold. 

I think the Pacman starts to look full bodied the less it looks like a Pacman. By that I mean it takes longer integration time to fill out the detail. 

[newbie alert]

Awesome Sara...but I'm sure you could tease nebulosity out of a brick if you wanted to..

I see you're using Chroma 3nm, in comparison to Astrodon how do they fair?

[toxic]

thats a beaut image of ngc 281 Sara it has great depth just like you could fly through it

i have never seen it personally as pacman but i do think the bock globule in the middle resembles a space invader 

[swag72]

18 hours ago, Ruud said:

Top class, Sara! Amazing!

Thanks! I'm pleased that you like it  

17 hours ago, ultranova said:

The bigger version on your website is stunning Sara

so much detail and the colours are beautiful.

well done

Paul

Thanks Paul...... the ease of the colours I'm finding is down to AstroPixelProcessor as it gets you in a good starting place.... from there it's easier!

16 hours ago, Filroden said:

I can only echo earlier comments. This is a striking Pacman. Subtle colour gradients but still bold. 

I think the Pacman starts to look full bodied the less it looks like a Pacman. By that I mean it takes longer integration time to fill out the detail. 

Thanks Ken..... I think you are right about how the increased integration really changes this.

13 hours ago, newbie alert said:

Awesome Sara...but I'm sure you could tease nebulosity out of a brick if you wanted to..

I see you're using Chroma 3nm, in comparison to Astrodon how do they fair?

Thanks! The Chroma's are fine   I can't compare them directly as the Astrodons are in a different setup, but I am happy with them and I don't feel that they are inferior to the Astrodons in any way. They are slightly cheaper and I'd buy them again.

10 hours ago, toxic said:

thats a beaut image of ngc 281 Sara it has great depth just like you could fly through it

i have never seen it personally as pacman but i do think the bock globule in the middle resembles a space invader 

Thanks Chris..... I love the Bok Globules in this!! 

[Shibby]

I can't say I share your opinion on the Pacman, but yours is definitely one of the best images I have seen of it! I like the composition, with the "centipede" as the subject. How many nights does it take you to gather 30 hours??

[davew]

Oh the joys of letting someone else do all the work.   I know if I did this nebula it would remain flat and boring ( I have the image to prove it ! )

One of the many positives of the image is the framing. No indication at all of the overall shape.

I love the dust, globs and pillars. I don't think I've ever really taken much notice of them before.

You seem to be getting along with APP very well. What percentage to you think you use APP as opposed to other software ? You did a good write up in S @ N this month I noticed.

Dave.