The Pacman Nebula

NGC 281 is a large emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. It is also known as the Pacman Nebula because of its resemblance to the video game character. The nebula is located about 9200 light-years from Earth and is part of the Perseus Spiral Arm of the Milky Way galaxy. In it’s center is an open cluster of young stars (IC 1590) that are responsible for the ionization of the surrounding gas, causing it to glow.