A Dust Cloud in NGC 281 . ... Credit Copyright: NASA , ESA , The Hubble Heritage Team, ( STScI / AURA ) and P. McCullough ( STScI ) Explanation: Stars themselves can create huge and intricate dust sculptures from the dense and dark molecular cloud s from which they are born. ... The dust cloud NGC 281 , dubbed the Pacman nebula because of its overall shape , is classified as a dense Bok Globule that lies about 10,000 light years distant. ... NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers . ...