Running Chicken Nebula
Also known as IC 2944
Running Chicken Nebula is a star cluster with nebula in the constellation Centaurus, about 5,850 light-years from Earth.
Emission nebula in Centaurus
Facts
| Type | Star cluster with nebula |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Centaurus |
| Position (J2000) | 11h 35m 46s, −63° 01′ |
| Distance | 5,850 light-years (its light set off about 5,850 years ago) |
| Brightness | magnitude 4.5 (smaller is brighter; the faintest stars the eye sees are about 6) |
| Size on the sky | 7.2′ (the full Moon is about 31′) |
| Filter | UHC (narrowband) filter (Glowing gas shines in a few colours of hydrogen and oxygen: a UHC filter passes those and blocks most light pollution and sky glow.) |
| Studied in | 192 scientific papers (SIMBAD) |
When and how to see it
Running Chicken Nebula is highest in the sky at midnight in March. From India (about 20° N) it climbs to about 7° above the horizon; from 50° N it never rises. To see it you need the naked eye from a dark site.
Heights are worked out for India and for 50° N. Set your location in Settings to see them for where you are.
For tonight's best time from your own town, the darkness and the Moon, open it on the map and see its "Tonight from your location" card.
More in Centaurus
- Betta Fish Nebula
- Boomerang Nebula
- Centaurus A (NGC 5128)
- Mermaid Nebula
- Omega Centauri
- SN 1006
- Southern Crab Nebula
- Thackeray's Globules
Everything in Centaurus · All 88 constellations · All sky objects
Data: SIMBAD (CDS, Strasbourg; the site's weekly copy) · OpenNGC · Data sources & credits