NGC 281, an emission nebula in Cassiopeia
SkyMap Pro gave me an excellent idea of the size and shape of this emission nebula but no real idea of its compexity. I was very surprised when I first saw the opaque, dark knots of gas and dust called "Bok globules" absorbing light in the center of the emission nebula. Near the globules is the young open cluster IC 1590 with its compact group of extremely hot, massive stars generating a strong stellar wind. The stars emit the visible and ultraviolet light that energizes the surrounding hydrogen gas in NGC 281.
This 30 x 30 arc minute image was created by median combining 19 x 120 second images taken with a Takahashi Epsilon 250mm F/3.8 astrograph and an ST-8XE CCD camera with a Hydrogen Alpha filter.
Martin Nicholson - Daventry, United Kingdom.
This page was last updated on April 26th 2009.