Thackery's Globules

This image was selected to be published in the Sky and Telescope Gallery for September 2007.  IC 2944 is an emmision nebula in Centaurus, 5900 light years distant.  Centaurus contains two of the top ten brightest stars in the universe producing massive quantities of powerful UV radiation.  An interesting aspect of this nebula is the presence of dark globules with the eponymn of Thackery's Globules.  These structures represent the remains of a large dark nebula that has been eroded by this UV radiation.  The globules of dense clumps of gas and dust are nearly 1.4 light years in width, and often go by the name of Bok's Globules in other structures in the universe.

This nebula has been imaged by the Anglo Australian  telescope and HST.

Another interesting image is from Johannes Schedler which shows this area in a wide field format.

NOAO Image Gallery