Pacman Nebula

About the object

The Pacman Nebula in Cassiopeia, a cloud of glowing hydrogen in which a dark dust lane has 'bitten off' a piece, leaving a silhouette like the old video-game character. At the centre lies the young cluster IC 1590, whose stars light the gas, and along the edge sit dark Bok globules, dense knots where gas is collapsing into future stars. The nebula sits high and is reachable from the balcony from late summer to winter.

Distance: about 9,500 light-years, apparent size in the sky: ≈ 35′, constellation Cassiopeia.

How it was shot

Everything here was shot with a DWARF Mini smart telescope from a balcony in a city in Ukraine: light-polluted sky, only the eastern half of it visible, and a roof overhang that cuts off the south. 4 nights (all in October), 4 sessions, 343 frames with exposures of 30 and 60 s, without a filter, in broadband and a dual-band Hα/OIII filter that passes only the glow of hydrogen and oxygen and blocks most of the city light pollution. The stack holds 5 h 1 min of light; the longest night, 6 October, gave 1 h 43 min. The goal for this object is 4 h, and it is reached. First night 1 October 2026, last one 7 October 2026.

Pacman Nebula in the night log: 1 October, 5 October, 6 October, 7 October.

How it went

The series started with a mistake: the first night was shot without a filter instead of dual-band because the switch was in the wrong position, and that stack served only as a framing reference. Then four dual-band nights at 60 seconds, combined into one stack in the cloud. Pacman is an evening target that hides behind the roof around eleven, so every session is short and the light accumulates gradually.