IC 2944

{{Short description|H II region and open cluster in the constellation Centaurus}}

{{Infobox nebula

| name = IC 2944

| image = The Very Large Telescope Snaps a Stellar Nursery and Celebrates Fifteen Years of Operations.jpg

| type = emission

| type2= open cluster

| epoch = J2000.0

| ra = {{RA|11|36|36.0}}

| dec = {{DEC|-63|02|00}}

| dist_ly = 6500{{cite journal|bibcode=1965MNRAS.131..121T|title=A photometric and spectroscopic study of the cluster IC 2944|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|volume=131|pages=121–135|last1=Thackeray|first1=A. D.|last2=Wesselink|first2=A. J.|author1-link=A. David Thackeray|author2-link=Adriaan Jan Wesselink|year=1965|doi=10.1093/mnras/131.1.121|doi-access=free}}

| appmag_v = 4.5

| size_v = 75'[https://web.archive.org/web/20060712225029/http://www.seds.org/~spider/ngc/ngc.cgi?i2944 SEDS: IC 2944]

| radius_ly = 71

| absmag_v =

| constellation = Centaurus

| notes = open cluster with nebulosity, Bok globules

| names = IC 2944, RCW 62
Running Chicken Nebula,
Lambda Cen Nebula, Caldwell 100.

}}

Image:IC 2944, Nicknamed the Running Chicken Nebula.jpg/ESO 2.2-metre telescope]]

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. 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.{{cite journal|bibcode=1997A&A...327.1185R|title=Thackeray's globules in IC 2944|journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics|volume=327|pages=1185|last1=Reipurth|first1=Bo|last2=Corporon|first2=Patrice|last3=Olberg|first3=Michael|last4=Tenorio-Tagle|first4=Guillermo|year=1997}} Other designations for IC 2944 include RCW 62, G40 and G42.{{Cite book|last=Lang|first=Kenneth R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0_EHCAAAQBAJ&q=IC+2944+rcw+60&pg=PA414|title=Astrophysical Data: Planets and Stars|date=2012-12-06|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9781468406405|language=en}}

The ESO Very Large Telescope image on the right is a close up of a set of Bok globules discovered in IC 2944 by astronomer A. David Thackeray in 1950.{{cite journal|bibcode=1950MNRAS.110..524T|title=Some southern stars involved in nebulosity|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|volume=110|issue=6|pages=524–530|last1=Thackeray|first1=A. D.|year=1950|doi=10.1093/mnras/110.6.524|doi-access=free}} These globules are now known as Thackeray's Globules. In 2MASS 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 and reflection nebulae towards the southeast, while IC 2944 is the cluster of stars and surrounding nebulosity stretching towards λ Centauri.{{cite book|author=Stephen James O'Meara|title=Deep-Sky Companions: The Caldwell Objects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Hg6YHgx9nAC&pg=PA400|year=2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-82796-6|pages=400–}} IC 2944 gets the nickname "Running Chicken Nebula" 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.{{Cite web|last=|title=IC 2944, nicknamed the Running Chicken Nebula|url=https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1135a/|access-date=2021-12-16|website=www.eso.org|language=en-us}}