Explanation:
Look through the cosmic cloud cataloged as
NGC 281
and it's almost easy to miss stars of the open cluster
IC 1590.
But, formed within the nebula, that cluster's young, massive stars
ultimately power the pervasive
nebular glow.
The eye-catching shapes looming in
this colorful
portrait of NGC 281
are sculpted columns and dense
dust globules seen in silhouette,
eroded by intense, energetic winds and radiation
from the hot cluster stars.
If they survive long enough,
the dusty structures could also be sites of future star formation.
Sometimes called the Pacman Nebula because
of its overall shape in
wider-field
views, NGC 281 is about 10,000 light-years away in the constellation
Cassiopeia.
This composite image was made through
narrow-band filters
and shows emission from the nebula's hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen atoms
in green, red, and blue hues.
It spans over 80 light-years at the estimated distance of NGC 281.
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