IC 2944, also known as the Running Chicken Nebula, the Lambda Centauri Nebula or the λ Centauri Nebula, is an
open cluster
An open cluster is a type of star cluster made of up to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same giant molecular cloud and have roughly the same age. More than 1,100 open clusters have been discovered within the Milky Way galaxy, and ...
with an associated
emission nebula found in the constellation
Centaurus, near the star
λ Centauri
Lambda Centauri, Latinized from λ Centauri, is a star in the southern circumpolar constellation of Centaurus. It has an apparent visual magnitude of +3.13, which is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphe ...
. It features
Bok globules, which are frequently a site of active star formation. However, no evidence for star formation has been found in any of the globules in IC 2944. Other designations for IC 2944 include RCW 62, G40 and G42.
The
ESO
The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, commonly referred to as the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is an intergovernmental research organisation made up of 16 member states for ground-based ast ...
Very Large Telescope
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope facility operated by the European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It consists of four individual telescopes, each with a primary mirror 8.2 m across, ...
image on the right is a close up of a set of
Bok globules discovered in IC 2944 by
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...
A. David Thackeray in 1950. These globules are now known as Thackeray's Globules. In
2MASS
The Two Micron All-Sky Survey, or 2MASS, was an astronomical survey of the whole sky in infrared light. It took place between 1997 and 2001, in two different locations: at the U.S. Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory on Mount Hopkins, Arizona, and ...
images, 6 stars are visible within the largest globule.
The region of nebulosity visible in modern images includes both IC 2944 and IC 2948, as well as the fainter IC 2872 nearby. IC 2948 is the brightest
emission
Emission may refer to:
Chemical products
* Emission of air pollutants, notably:
**Flue gas, gas exiting to the atmosphere via a flue
** Exhaust gas, flue gas generated by fuel combustion
** Emission of greenhouse gases, which absorb and emit radi ...
and
reflection nebulae Reflection or reflexion may refer to:
Science and technology
* Reflection (physics), a common wave phenomenon
** Specular reflection, reflection from a smooth surface
*** Mirror image, a reflection in a mirror or in water
** Signal reflection, in ...
towards the southeast, while IC 2944 is the cluster of stars and surrounding nebulosity stretching towards λ Centauri.
IC 2944 gets the running chicken nebula name from a group of
stars that resemble a running
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...
. The star
Lambda Centauri
Lambda Centauri, Latinized from λ Centauri, is a star in the southern circumpolar constellation of Centaurus. It has an apparent visual magnitude of +3.13, which is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphe ...
lies just outside IC 2944. The
nebulae is 6,500 light years from
earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
.
References
External links
*
IC 2944 at ESA/Hubble
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ic 2944
Centaurus (constellation)
2944
Bright nebula IC 2944
100b
Star-forming regions