This emission nebula in the Cassiopeia constellation resembles its namesake character from the classic video game. It also resembles a heart if viewed from a different angle. It is rather dim and diffuse while observed visually, but is quite neat and full of details when photographed using multiple guided exposures. A small open star cluster (IC 1590) ionizes the gas of the Pacman, which is criss-crossed by lines of dark dust. It also contains several Bok globules, which are isolated dark nebulae that consist of dense clouds of dust and gas. These clouds are in the process of condensing and will form new stars in the future.
This future star nursery is located in the Perseus Arm of our Milky Way galaxy. I captured its light in early October of 2024, after it travelled for 9,500 years to my yard in Victoria, BC. This image is an integration of forty 5-minute RGB exposures, taken through a 478 mm-long, f/5.9 telescope.