APOD: IC 2944: The Running Chicken Nebula (2020 Apr 20)

Comments and questions about the APOD on the main view screen.
Post Reply
User avatar
APOD Robot
Otto Posterman
Posts: 5344
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2009 3:27 am
Contact:

APOD: IC 2944: The Running Chicken Nebula (2020 Apr 20)

Post by APOD Robot » Mon Apr 20, 2020 4:06 am

Image IC 2944: The Running Chicken Nebula

Explanation: To some, it looks like a giant chicken running across the sky. To others, it looks like a gaseous nebula where star formation takes place. Cataloged as IC 2944, the Running Chicken Nebula spans about 100 light years and lies about 6,000 light years away toward the constellation of the Centaur (Centaurus). The featured image, shown in scientifically assigned colors, was captured recently in a 12-hour exposure. The star cluster Collinder 249 is visible embedded in the nebula's glowing gas. Although difficult to discern here, several dark molecular clouds with distinct shapes can be found inside the nebula.

<< Previous APOD This Day in APOD Next APOD >>

Boomer12k
:---[===] *
Posts: 2691
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2007 12:07 am

Re: APOD: IC 2944: The Running Chicken Nebula (2020 Apr 20)

Post by Boomer12k » Mon Apr 20, 2020 4:20 am

So... it's...."Why did the chicken run around the galaxy?"...???

:---[===] *


starsurfer
Stellar Cartographer
Posts: 5306
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2012 7:25 pm

Re: APOD: IC 2944: The Running Chicken Nebula (2020 Apr 20)

Post by starsurfer » Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:17 am

For anyone wondering, the planetary nebula is Hen 2-72.

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Re: APOD: IC 2944: The Running Chicken Nebula (2020 Apr 20)

Post by neufer » Mon Apr 20, 2020 1:39 pm

Boomer12k wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 4:20 am
So... it's...."Why did the chicken run around the galaxy?"...???
starsurfer wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:17 am
For anyone wondering, the planetary nebula is Hen 2-72.
Which came first:
  • 1) Running Chickens or
    2) Running EGGs :?:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporating_gaseous_globule wrote:
<<An evaporating gas globule or EGG is a region of hydrogen gas in outer space approximately 100 astronomical units in size, such that gases shaded by it are shielded from ionizing UV rays. Dense areas of gas shielded by an evaporating gas globule can be conducive to the birth of stars. Evaporating gas globules were first conclusively identified via photographs of the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995.

EGG's are the likely predecessors of new protostars. Inside an EGG the gas and dust are denser than in the surrounding dust cloud. Gravity pulls the cloud even more tightly together as the EGG continues to draw in material from its surroundings. As the cloud density builds up the globule becomes hotter under the weight of the outer layers, a protostar is formed inside the EGG.

A protostar may have too little mass to become a star. If so it becomes a brown dwarf. If the protostar has sufficient mass, the density reaches a critical level where the temperature exceeds 10 million kelvin at its center. At this point, a nuclear reaction starts converting hydrogen to helium and releasing large amounts of energy. The protostar then becomes a star and joins the main sequence on the HR diagram.

A study of 73 EGGs in the Pillars of Creation (Eagle Nebula) with the Very Large Telescope showed that only 15% of the EGGs show signs of star-formation. The star-formation is not everywhere the same: The largest pillar has a small cluster of these sources at the head of the pillar.>>
Art Neuendorffer

smitty
Science Officer
Posts: 130
Joined: Tue Jul 04, 2006 9:57 am

Re: APOD: IC 2944: The Running Chicken Nebula (2020 Apr 20)

Post by smitty » Mon Apr 20, 2020 1:42 pm

I see a "small" chicken with a yellow beak located just where the blue transitions into the yellow and orange. The chicken is facing toward 11 o'clock. Amazing what the power of suggestion can do.

Tszabeau

Re: APOD: IC 2944: The Running Chicken Nebula (2020 Apr 20)

Post by Tszabeau » Mon Apr 20, 2020 1:46 pm

I’m going with “Norwegian Blue”.

User avatar
orin stepanek
Plutopian
Posts: 8200
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: APOD: IC 2944: The Running Chicken Nebula (2020 Apr 20)

Post by orin stepanek » Mon Apr 20, 2020 1:49 pm

Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

User avatar
orin stepanek
Plutopian
Posts: 8200
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: APOD: IC 2944: The Running Chicken Nebula (2020 Apr 20)

Post by orin stepanek » Mon Apr 20, 2020 1:52 pm

Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

User avatar
johnnydeep
Commodore
Posts: 2780
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 8:57 pm

Re: APOD: IC 2944: The Running Chicken Nebula (2020 Apr 20)

Post by johnnydeep » Tue May 05, 2020 6:22 pm

APOD Robot wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 4:06 am
I failed to see any chicken, running or otherwise, even in the larger linked-to APOD of two weeks ago (https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200420.html)

Only when I saw an outline shown elsewhere did it make ANY sense at all, and even that's a stretch:

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/11444109/ ... astronomy/ :

Image
--
"To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}

User avatar
Ann
4725 Å
Posts: 13372
Joined: Sat May 29, 2010 5:33 am

Re: APOD: IC 2944: The Running Chicken Nebula (2020 Apr 20)

Post by Ann » Tue Dec 08, 2020 6:15 am

johnnydeep wrote: Tue May 05, 2020 6:22 pm
APOD Robot wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 4:06 am
I failed to see any chicken, running or otherwise, even in the larger linked-to APOD of two weeks ago (https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200420.html)

Only when I saw an outline shown elsewhere did it make ANY sense at all, and even that's a stretch:

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/11444109/ ... astronomy/ :

Image
The Running Chicken is easier to see in RGB. Although it does have a duck foot.

Running Chicken Marcus Davies.png
Color Commentator

Post Reply