The Pacman Nebula is in the constellation of Cassiopeia in the Perseus Spiral Arm of the Milky Way. It is an emission nebula at a distance of around 9,200 light years from Earth. The high mass stars within the Pacman nebula give off radiation and wind, which pushes away the material around them. This forms dense clumped areas of gas and dust where new stars can be born. The shape of the nebula gave rise to its current nickname due its uncanny likeness to the famous video game character from the 1980's.

Around the middle of the nebula you can see an open cluster of stars, IC 1590. In the centre of the cluster is the multiple star HD 5005, consisting of an 8th magnitude primary and four companions. It is a very hot star system and gives off most of the radiation that energises the gas and dust to light up the nebula.

You can see many dark and dense areas of dust all around the Pacman Nebula, known as Bok Globules. These may be the site of star formation. As the new stars develop from the interstellar material, so the nebula will consume itself, eventually destined to disappear as the form we currently see.