Imaged in the late part of April into May 2023, the Running Chicken Nubula (IC2944), or Lambda Centauri nebula, is an emission nebula associated with an open cluster.
The origin of the name is up for debate, with some sources stating it is due to the shape of the overall nebula, while others cite the appearance of the central star cluster.
The Running Chicken Nebula
Gold and Turquoise version of the SHO mapping
In the top right corner is a small planetary nebula designated PK294-0.1 which I will attempt to capture with the big scope once the weather clears up.
PK294.01
The Fullsize (9216×6764) can be downloaded as a .tif here
Image Details :
80 x 300s of Ha, Oiii and Sii
100x 300s darks and 100 Bias frames for calibration
Equipment :
Skywatcher ED80 on the Ioptron CEM60 mount control via the Ioptron StarFi module
ASI1600MM-C cooled mono camera set at -10C and 1×1 binning with gain @ 139
Astronomik 1.25″ Ha, Oiii & Sii filters mounted in the ZWO EFW-mini Filter Wheel
Moonlite crayford focuser with Motor control
ASI120c guide camera with 60280 Guidescope
PegasusAstro Pocket PowerBox Advance for power distribution, USB hub and Dew Control
Mounted on the secondary pier and remotely run via a scope mounted NUC mini pc.
Processing software :
Mount interface with Ioptron Commander
Guiding by PHD2
Image Capture controlled by Sequence Generator Pro (SGPro)
Image Calibration, Registration, Stacking, Combination, Deconvolution and Star seperation by PixInsight
Image stretching and final processing in Photoshop
