NGC 281

This 20×30 arcmin sized nebulosity is also associated with open cluster IC 1590, several Bok globules and the multiple star, B 1.

[4] A recent distance from radio parallaxes of water masers at 22 GHz made during 2014 is estimated it lies 2.82±0.20 kpc.

[5] Colloquially, NGC 281 is also known as the Pacman Nebula for its resemblance to the video game character.

The nebula region is visible in amateur telescopes from dark sky locations.

In his book Deep Sky Wonders, Walter Scott Houston describes the appearance of the nebula in small telescopes:[6]

NGC 281 imaged by David McFeely. The image is an amalgamation of three monochrome images. Each monochrome image was taken at a different wavelength in the electromagnetic spectrum. Specifically, Sulphur II, Hydrogen Alpha, and Oxygen III. Each mono image has been assigned to one of the colour channels (red, green, blue). The combination of the wavelengths is referred to as a palette. The combination shown here is Nasa's Hubble Palette.
NGC 281: The Pacman Nebula in narrowband (SII/Ha/OIII) by David McFeely