IC 2944 presented in narrowband without stars- thank you Starnet ++ (best star removal software ever!)
The star forming Bok globules float above the swirling painterly molecular gaseous clouds of O3 & Ha.

These gases in turn contrast against the mountain range like shock fronts of S2 – thus creating a somewhat surreal sci-fi landscape.
Taken from my light polluted backyard in Melbourne, Australia.

Some judges were saying they could see the figure of a coal worker shovelling down at the bottom of the image, and an angel rising above… paradolia rules!

Gold Award 2019 AIPP Australian Professional Photography Awards

Gold Award 2019 AIPP Victorian Professional Photography Awards

ic 2944 starless nebula in Narrowband
ic 2944 starless nebula in Narrowband

Capture Details

Telescope Skywatcher CF 10" F4 Newtonian
Camera QSI 683 WSG8
Mount Takahashi NJP Temma2
Filters Astrodon 3nm Ha, O3 & S2
Guiding Camera Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2
Integration time (Exposure) 7.3 hrs
Location Suburban Backyard, Victoria, Australia
Date May, 2017

About this Nebula

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. Catalogued 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 colours, was captured recently in an 7-hour exposure from a backyard near Melbourne, Australia.  Several dark molecular clouds with distinct shapes can be found inside the nebula. (APOD)

Can you see the figure of a coal worker shovelling down at the bottom of the image, and an angel rising above?

- Andy Campbell