Figure 1 – The Pac-Man Nebula in Monoceros (NGC 281) Celestron Origin 60 min 360 Frame Image (c) DEWolf 2025.
We have been tried and tested all winter, and at last there is the slightest hint of the coming of spring, No matter how hard I try I find it impossible to secure the mount on the tripod wearing gloves. And it is never a good idea to mix optics and hand balms. Anyway, the calendar says that next weekend is the time change and two weeks from that the equinox. So I retreat to the warmth of the Observacar and fantasize of warmer days. Soon enough, and never satisfied, I will be complaining of the humidity and bugs and once more retreating to the air-conditioned comfort of Observacar!
In my last blog I spoke about the naming choice between Thor’s Helmet and Flying Duck Nebula. I really lean toward the intrinsic nobility of the mythic. Today I want to talk about the Pac-Man Nebula. Now someone was definitely given free range here. The nebula is diminished enough without this last indignity.
Still on Monday night I spent a long while capturing it under, or through, somewhat less than perfect skies. The result is Figure 1. The name Pac-Man gets you thinking of diminutive things and it seems to look more like a celestial backfire than a majestic nebula.
The Pac-Man Nebula—a glowing, colorful cloud of gas and dust located in the constellation of Monoceros. The Pac-Man Nebula (NGC 281) is a H II region, which means it’s a large cloud of gas and dust that is predominantly made up of hydrogen. Note, what looks like a smudge in the center of the image. That is a classic Bode body where absorbant dust blocks the underlying light of the nebula. This nebula lies about 9,500 light-years from Earth and spans roughly 5,000 light-years across. It’s a beautiful region in the Milky Way, where new stars are being born in the dense molecular clouds of gas.
Like many other emission nebulae, the Pac-Man Nebula is lit up by the intense radiation from young, hot stars at its core. These stars emit ultraviolet light that ionizes the surrounding hydrogen gas, causing it to glow with a reddish hue.
In the figure, the cloud of gas takes on a distinct form, with a large, round “mouth” that resembles the iconic character of Pac-Man, about to “eat” its surrounding space.Its resemblance to the classic arcade character isn’t just a coincidence, but rather due to the complex interplay between the intense radiation from the stars in the nebula and the surrounding gas. The stars at the center of the nebula are carving out cavities in the surrounding hydrogen clouds as they push their stellar wind and ultraviolet radiation outward, creating a “bite” on one side of the nebula. Much like we saw Stellar Winds rip apart gas clouds in the Thor’s Helmet Nebula.
The Pac-Man Nebula is not only beautiful, but it’s also a star-forming factory. Within the cloud of gas and dust, young stars are being born. Some of these stars are still in the process of forming, while others have already ignited and are illuminating the surrounding nebula with their energy.
The Pac-Man Nebula contains many massive stars. These stars are so large and hot that they produce powerful winds that clear away the surrounding gas and dust, shaping the nebula. As they age, these stars will eventually explode as supernovae, enriching the surrounding space with heavy elements that will go on to form new generations of stars, planets, and perhaps even life.
The nebula also contains many smaller, less massive stars that are forming in the dense regions of the nebula. These stars will have a much longer life span than their massive counterparts, and they will slowly settle into a more stable phase as they mature over millions of years.