The Chandra data of NGC 281 show more than 300 individual X-ray sources, most of which are associated with the central star cluster. The edge-on aspect of NGC 281 allows scientists to study the ...

To visible-light telescopes, this star-forming cloud appears to be chomping through the cosmos, earning it the nickname the “Pacman” nebula, like the famous Pac-Man video game that debuted in 1980.

For 3 million years, this beautiful smudge of gas has been bursting with new stars. Just under 10,000 light years away in the constellation of Cassiopeia, NGC 281 is busy with everything from ...

The nebula NGC 281 was first identified over 100 years ago by American astronomer E. E. Barnard, but today, many scientists know this massive cloud of dust and gas not as “NGC 281” but as “The Pacman ...

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has photographed dense knots of dust and gas in our Milky Way Galaxy. This cosmic dust is a concentration of elements that are responsible for the formation of stars in ...

The red dots sprinkled throughout the picture are thought to be the youngest stars, still forming in cocoons of dust. The Pacman nebula, also called NGC 281, is located 9,200 light-years away in the ...