Pacman nebula

I think all of us have played the video game Pacman, and the resemblance of NGC 281 to the game character is neat. The nebula was discovered in 1883 and was described as "a large faint nebula, very diffuse."

NCG 281 in Cassiopeia, lies at a distance of about 10,000 lys. A bright group of stars in the center illuminate the region of hydrogen gas, glowing red. Dark clouds of dusk obscure some of the glowing gas, creating the "mouth" and "eye". Star formation occurs in these dense clouds of dust. Because the cluster is in the direction of the Milky Way, innumerable stars litter the background and foreground of the image.