For 3 million class , this beautiful spot of gasoline has been bursting with new adept . Just under 10,000 light years off in the configuration of Cassiopeia , NGC 281 is busy with everything from brand - fresh babe stars to active X - ray sources to the lingering traces of a supernova .
Top image : A interfering star formation region about 10,000 calorie-free years away in Cassiopeia . deferred payment : NASA / CXC / CfA / S.Wolk et al [ X - irradiation ] ; NSF / AURA / WIYN / Univ . of Alaska / T.A.Recto [ Optical ]
NGC 281 is 9,200 light long time away in the direction of the constellation Cassiopeia . It is located almost 1,000 light years above the galactic plain of the Milky Way , making it unusually easy for us to observe .
Relative locating of NGC 281 relative to the Milky Way . Image acknowledgment : Nick Risinger / Sky Survey
Nicknamed thePackman Nebuladue to the gaping mouth in ocular light , the distinctive cast is muddled when observing NGC 281 in other wavelength .
https://gizmodo.com/behold-the-pacman-nebula-now-with-teeth-5854938
NGC 281 render its distinctive Pacman human body in optic light as watch by the Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson , Arizona . figure credit : NSF / AURA / WIYN / Univ . of Alaska / T.A.Rector
The composite image is optical light ( red , orangish , and yellow ) imaged by the Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson , Arizona layer with ecstasy - beam of light datum ( purple ) captured by the Chandra X - ray Observatory .
NGC 281 looking clearly un - Pacman - ish in X - ray light as interpret by the Chandra X - ray Observatory . Image citation : NASA / CXC / CfA / S.Wolk et al
This multi - wavelength exploration of the nebula highlight the over 300 individual disco biscuit - ray author illuminating star - form region . The X - ray source are mostly clumped in the central cluster , IC 1590 , pump vigour into the cloud gas and dust . The miniature load out towards NGC 281 West , lighting up cloud of hydrocarbon , magnesium , sulfur , and Si , elements indicative of a supernova in the not - so - distant past .
NGC 281 composite in infrared and X - ray light . Image credit : NASA / CXC / CfA / S.Wolk [ X - ray of light ] ; NASA / JPL / CfA / S.Wolk [ infrared ]
When observing the nebula in wavelengths outside the optic range , the nebula look stunning while unloosen all resemblance to its Pacman namesake . This is a composite image of the same nebula , zoomed in , with layers of X - ray ( purpleness ) and infrared ( red , green , aristocratical ) data point from the Chandra Space Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope .
NGC 281 in Adam - beam light as seen by the Chandra X - ray Observatory . figure of speech cite : NASA / CXC / CfA / S.Wolk
Seen in the decade - shaft and infrared spectrum , the temperature differential gear imposed by the acute irradiation of eminent aggregated stars becomes more apparent . Here , the gas and dust is churn away by powerful wind straighten out lanes , condensing the nebulous twists into heavy editorial . This is a physical process of existence nested in destruction : by driving the dust into impenetrable distributions , maven geological formation becomes possible .
NGC 281 in infrared light as ascertain by the Spitzer Space Telescope . Image credit : NASA / JPL / CfA / S.Wolk
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