Running Chicken Nebula

Image Description and Details :

Taken from Brazilian skies on the nights of 13,14,15 of February 2021 (960´ minutes of total exposure time), this runaway chicken lies among two famous views: the Southern Cross and the Carina Nebula. Throughout this image the Running Chicken Nebula displays all it´s intricacy and so many shades of red. Gorgeous hydrogen alpha emissions. It is located about 6500 light years away in Centaurus.

The dark globules in the center of the image are called Thackeray globules, after the South African astronomer Andrew David Thackeray, who first observed them in 1950. These regions, when viewed through infrared telescopes, reveal a stellar nursery, a region of star formation. A closer look shows that the larger dark globules are formed by two separate but overlapping parts, giving the impression of being one. These two clouds together have a mass equivalent to 15 times the mass of the Sun!

Globules appear to be fractured due the hostile environment in which they are immersed. Since young and hot stars energize and heat up the emission nebula, the globules get dissipated by this harsh environment, preventing them from contracting and becoming massive stars.

This remarkable celestial landscape spreads over an estimated field of 60,000 light years.

.
[ Tech Specs ]
.
The final image is the result of a four panel mosaic, each containing:

H-Alpha: 30x300" (each panel)
RGB: 6x300 (each channel and panel)
Total Exposure Time: 960' minutes;
.
Telescope: TS115/632 (with reducer)
Camera: ZWO ASI 1600mm Pro
Filters: HALPHA OPTOLONG 6,5nm / RGB Astrodon
Guide: OAG QHY5L
Mount: CEM60
Capture Softwares: APT, SKYTECH X, PHD GUIDING
Processing software: Pixinsight | Lightroom
.
Image taken at Serra Alta, Santa Catarina (SC), Brazil

Copyright: Carlos `Kiko` Fairbairn, Maicon Germiniani and Gabriel R. Santos