The Pacman Nebula

An emission nebula that contains Bok globules, which are dark areas of gas and dust where stars form. The Pacman Nebula’s official name is NGC 281.


Version 2, reprocessed December 2022

From the Reprocessing Bonanza 2022. This version uses exactly the same data as version 1, but with better processing tools and skills.

An extreme crop of version 1 on the left, 2 on the right.

Version 1, February 2022

This was an early image attempt with my new kit. I quite like the colour shades I brought out, but may return to reprocess some time. It could do with a longer integration time to help combat the noise too. Still, it’s an achievable target with an OSC camera from a city assuming you have a dual-band filter.

* January – February 2021
* Bristol, UK (Bortle 8)
* Telescope: Askar FRA400 f/5.6 Quintuplet APO Astrograph
* Camera: ZWO ASI 2600MC-PRO
* Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme
* Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G
* Guide: William Optics 32mm; ZWO ASI 120MM Mini
* Control: ASIAIR PRO
* Software: PixInsight and Lightroom
* 90 x 300 seconds

Total integration time: 7 hours 30 minutes

By Lee Pullen

Example source data

This is what a single 300-second subframe looks like, debayered and with a simple stretch.
This is the integration of 90 x 300 seconds (7.5 hours) just with a simple stretch, before any proper editing.

Nothing will motivate me to create more content quite like money!





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