NGC 281 is also known as the PAC Man Nebula, having roughly the same shape as the old video game character of the same name. It is an emission nebula, discovered in August 1883 by E. E. Barnard, is about 10,000 light years distant, 30 arc-minutes across and is very nice when viewed using a variety filters, my own favorite being the NPB filter. NGC 281 can be thoroughly enjoyed using even the smallest of telescopes, and in my 25" f/5 is terrific eye candy. This guy is not really much of a challenge, but so what? Here is a photo via APOD...
IC 1590 is a small 12th magnitude open cluster near the center of NGC 281. It contains approximately 65 members and is only about 3.5 million years old, making this a very young cluster. I'm not usually much of an open cluster observer, but this report is mostly about multiple objects in the same field of view, so that makes me interested
HD 5005 = ADS719 = Burnham 1 - Speaking of multiples, there is a dandy multiple star at the heart of NGC 281/IC 1590, the trapezium HD 5005, with members as follows;
Lastly, there are several Bok globules scattered throughout NGC 281, which are large molecular clouds of dust and gas that can condense to eventually form new stars. The easiest globule to see is located about 3 arc-seconds NE of HD 5005. I could not find any designations for these globules, but I'll assume that such designations exist somewhere. Read about Bok globules here...
My own best observation of this area didn't really include NGC 281 itself, because the field of view of the 82" at McDonald Observatory in Ft. Davis, Texas is only 5 arc-minutes wide using its lowest power! Here is what I wrote about this object in 2006... "Although this bright nebula itself is way too big for the 5 arc-minute FOV, the targets here were really the Bok globule near the middle and the nearby HD 5005 trapezium-like multiple star. The Bok globule was clearly visible, but not nearly as contrasty as I thought it would be. The multiple star was obvious, and made for a very pretty picture. At 812X the 1.6" AB pair was easily split. Of course, there was a lot of nebulosity coursing through the whole area." I could have looked around this area for a long time, but there were 2 dozen people waiting in line behind me for their turn at the eyepiece
ngc 281 bok globules.jpg This photo was 'borrowed' from my friend Dave Jurasevich's great web page... http://starimager.com/Home_Page.htm ... and only shows a portion of NGC 281, concentrating instead on the Bok globules and other fascinating structures in that area.
Object of the Week, December 8, 2013 – NGC 281 - IC1590 - HD 5005
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