For the amateur astronomer, NGC281 in Cassiopeia is an interesting combination of a diffuse nebula and a multiple star, Burnham 1. I split this posting in two, and describe the nebula here and the multiple star under the double star forum.
NGC281 is quite large and faint, and is hardly visible without a filter. In order to locate it, I prefer spotting the central multiple star which appears as a small triangle at low magnification. Having found Burnham 1, I usually see a weak brightening of the sky background in the field. Application of the O-III filter turns this featureless glow into a circular cloud with a well defined bay. The overall appearance becomes like the Packman from which the nebula got its popular name. It is a good object for apertures above 8 inches, but like all extended nebulae a dark, clear sky is needed to see it well. I have been using 63x and 115x magnification on NGC281. The higher magnification makes the sky background darker and brings out some more detail in the nebula.
NGC281 is quite large and faint, and is hardly visible without a filter. In order to locate it, I prefer spotting the central multiple star which appears as a small triangle at low magnification. Having found Burnham 1, I usually see a weak brightening of the sky background in the field. Application of the O-III filter turns this featureless glow into a circular cloud with a well defined bay. The overall appearance becomes like the Packman from which the nebula got its popular name. It is a good object for apertures above 8 inches, but like all extended nebulae a dark, clear sky is needed to see it well. I have been using 63x and 115x magnification on NGC281. The higher magnification makes the sky background darker and brings out some more detail in the nebula.