Been trying to find running chicken (ic2944)

[jakevn]

Hey guys i have been trying to find ic2944 for the last 4-5 nights on my bintel bt202b 8inch dob. I can't seem to find it at all, my light population is a bit bad where i am.

I can find the car nebular which is pretty close. But is my scope too small? or just too much light pollution? thank you

[Malcolm]

Maybe light pollution, as I am in Northern NSW and took a photo of part of it two nights ago. 10" GOTO dob. It is fairly large object, Lambda Centauri Cluster.

[gaseous]

Hi Jake, are you using any type of narrowband filters? These may help provide a bit more contrast against your light pollution to help it pop out.

[astro744]

It is a large object so you need low power enough to give you about 1.5 degrees to frame it nicely and a line filter such as O-III or H-Beta. UHC works too but any wider bandwidth and it is more difficult.

I just tried with my 10.1" f6.4 Newtonian using a 41mm Panoptic under reasonably dark suburban skies and it is quite visible in O-III, H-Beta and UHC but much fainter with the Deep Sky filter, (all Lumicon 2" filters).

Low power gives you the field you need as well as the larger exit pupil for the filters to perform at their best on this large low surface brightness object. An 8" f6 'scope should show it but a filter is needed unless you are out in the country under very dark skies and even then it will be faint without a filter.

[jakevn]

hey thank you for a reply i haven't got a narrowband filter. Are they worth buying for nebulas? thank you

[astro744]

Yes they help by enhancing the contrast quite significantly. Start with a UHC type that encompasses both O-III and H-Beta lines. The Deep Sky or CLS or any other wider band filters are just a bit too gentle in most applications but they do have their uses but not recommended for IC2944 as I tried it and the contrast boost is not enough.

There are many brands to choose from and three well known ones are Lumicon, Astronomik and Thousand Oaks. The DGM NPB filter gets mentioned a lot but I don't have this one to comment on. My favourite is Lumicon and for larger apertures, Thousand Oaks. I also,like the Tele Vue Bandmate filters for their very natural view whilst still providing a significant contrast boost but these are no longer avalable. I have not tried any other brands so cannot comment on their effectiveness.

[Nebulous]

Hi Jake,

It might be that you're expecting it to look different to what you will actually see. I was looking for it this evening and my initial problem was that I was going straight past it. It's nowhere near as obvious or striking as the Carina nebula that you have found. We might both need the filters that others have mentioned if we're to get the effect we're hoping to see?

I was using a very modest 80x400 refractor and then a 150x750 reflector so your bigger scope should be fine for at least nailing the right location.

I found it by star hopping from the Southern Cross. I started at the star named Acrux in the shot below taken from Stellarium. Depending on your time and location, the orientation of the Southern Cross might look different, but the five main stars in it are easy to pick, as you would know.

I started by centring on Acrux and then hopped across to the pair of bright stars, which have a red arrow pointing to them the picture. It's just a short hop in relation to the scale of the S. Cross.

After a short pause I then hopped a slightly longer distance in a similar direction and landed on Lamda Centauri which is the main bright deal in Chicken territory. There is small 'necklace' of stars below which is very faint in that shot but it was fairly obvious too.

What I didn't see was the sort of surrounding effect that is depicted in that shot, or such a vivid clustering as we both saw in the Carina nebula (which is to the upper far right in the shot). So I went right past a couple of times.

Good luck!

Cheers,

[gaseous]

Hi Jake,

I was at a fairly dark site last night with a 16" dob and a decent filter, and even then I almost went right past it (certainly would have without the filter) - in a suburban setting with no filter I think you'd be doing really well to pick it up. I have the DGM NPB filter, which tends to give a warmer tone to things rather than an OIII filter, but either would help a lot I think.

[mental4astro]

The blasted Running KFC is one underwhelming sucker that is REALLY tricky to identify. Despite its relatively bright quoted magnitude value, because of its size, this point source visual magnitude value is spread out. So it is a large, but faint nebula.

I spent some time with it on Saturday, using scopes between 8" to 17.5", at a dark site. The trick is to NOT to find the nebulosity first off, but to identify the cluster it envelopes. Chris's picture below is exactly what I used direction wise to find it. It is a very busy area, so you really need to concentrate on what you are doing. Because the nebulosity is so faint, and because it doesn't stand out straight away, it does screw around with your confidence that you are in the right spot, whether you are star hoping or with a push-to or go-to system! :lol:

We first spotted it with the 8" dob. Once we determined we nailed its cluster the nebulosity just took patience to reveal itself. Filters help, but not mandatory. Without a filter, there is one very subtle hint that helps - the dark nebulosity that surrounds it!!! This stuff tones down the background glow of the Milky Way, allowing the dim glow of the Chook to be more easily seen. Once I recognised the cluster AND the dark nebulosity, the Chook was very easy to nail time and again. UHC and OIII filters show different aspects of the nebula, but both are effective in improving contrast.

Under urban skies, it would be ney impossible to see. Filters may help, but it will really test you all the same. The blasted Running Chook really made me work for it's finger licking goodness! Once we spotted it, then we could really start pulling it apart! It really is one of the trickiest nebulae to see in the sky! And you certainly are not outgunned with your 8" scope. Keeping the magnification down really low, and a 4" refractor would be able to spot it too. But you need patience...

Alex.

[Nebulous]

Thanks for a great description of the trials of finding the Chook. I'll look again with a new understanding of how, where, and what to look for.

I especially liked the phrase "star hoping". Whether it was a typo or a deliberate Alex-ism it perfectly describes my newbie efforts at finding my way around. A lot more hoping than accurate hopping. :):shrug:

[mental4astro]

Typo :ashamed: :whistle: :rofl: