Lambda Centauri Vortex (starless)

in 1969 Rufus Thomas wrote –
“You flap your arms and your feet start kicking
Then you know you doin’ the funky chicken”.

Which is possibly what the guys at the AAO were doing when they named the ‘Running Chicken’ nebula!
I’ve presented a NB version of this timeless classic target here without stars, as I’m still waiting for the clouds to clear to capture some nice RGB ones!

6 Hrs HA x 900 sec
2 Hrs O3 x 900 sec
3 Hrs S2 x 900 Sec

Choma filters

Taken via Stellarmate (while sleeping) from my light polluted suburban Backyard in Melbourne, Australia. Average seeing, Bortle 5/6 skies.

Processed in APP & PS CC 2020 using Starnet++ &  Topaz NR with a touch of Eric Coles Histogram balancing technique.

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. 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 an 11-hour exposure from a backyard near Melbourne, Australia.  Although difficult to discern here, several dark molecular clouds with distinct shapes known as Bok Globules, can be found inside the nebula. (text: APOD)