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Writer's pictureTony Brown

Chasing Ghosts in the Cosmos: The Pac-Man Nebula in HOO Palette

In the cosmic tapestry of the night sky, one celestial gem beckons with a playful familiarity - the Pac-Man Nebula. Captured through my telescope, this dazzling nebula takes on an intriguing form reminiscent of the iconic video game character. Join me on a cosmic adventure as we explore the Pac-Man Nebula, adorned in the mesmerizing hues of the HOO palette.

The Pac-Man Nebula, officially known as NGC 281, resides in the constellation Cassiopeia, approximately 9,200 light-years away from Earth. Named for its uncanny resemblance to the classic arcade character, this emission nebula showcases a stunning interplay of gases, dust, and the brilliance of newborn stars.


The HOO palette, a combination of H-alpha and OIII filters, assigns hydrogen data to the red channel and oxygen data to both the green and blue channels. This color mapping technique enhances the contrast and reveals the delicate structures within the nebula, providing a unique and visually stunning representation of the cosmic spectacle. In my case I use a single filter that only allows the Blue and Red channels, I can then split this up during processing to create my Hydrogen and Oxygen which I then remap to specific hues of red and in this case cyan. Sometimes this type of processing can leave you with odd colouring of stars, to avoid this I processed without stars and then substituted in stars taken pre split.


One nights worth of data making about 4h15m of exposures on 18th January 2024.

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