NGC 281 is an H II region in the constellation of Cassiopeia and part of the Perseus Spiral Arm. It includes the open cluster IC 1590, the multiple star HD 5005, and several Bok globules. Colloquially, NGC 281 is also known as the Pacman Nebula for its resemblance to the video game character.

The nebula was discovered in August 1883 by E. E. Barnard, who described it as "a large faint nebula, very diffuse." The multiple star HD 5005, also called β1, was discovered by S. W. Burnham. It consists of an 8th-magnitude primary with four companions at distances between 1.4 and 15.7 seconds of arc. There has been no appreciable change in this quintuple system since the first measurements were made in 1875.

The nebula 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:(wikipedia)

Taken on a very good night. Low fog ended the session a little early, everything was dripping wet. They Kendrick Dew system worked a charm. First real night out with the new Mach1 mount. It tracks very well and the guiding corrections were very small and cosistent. I will like this mount!

Details:

Date: Nov 23, 2011
West of Columbia, MO
Telescope: William Optics FLT110 with W/O IV Reducer system @f5.6
Mount: Astro-Physics Mach1 GTO
Camera: SBIG 8300M w/5 position filter wheel
2 hours total exposure through LRGB filters
Software: CCDStack Photoshop CS3