Running Chicken (IC 2944) Bicolor

IC 2944 (also known as the Running Chicken Nebula , the Lambda Centauri Nebula or the λ Centauri Nebula) is an open cluster with an associated emission nebula found in the constellation Centaurus, near the star λ Centauri.

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 and reflection nebulae 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 star Lambda Centauri lies just outside IC 2944. The nebulae is 6,500 light years from earth.

The image was created using the Ha and OIII filters as color, while a mix of Ha-OIII-SII was used for the luminance.

Ha: 4x300sec

OIII: 4x300sec

SII: 4x300sec