IC 2944

It features Bok globules, which are frequently a site of active star formation.

However, no evidence for star formation has been found in any of the globules in IC 2944.

[4] The ESO Very Large Telescope image on the right is a close up of a set of Bok globules discovered in IC 2944 by astronomer A. David Thackeray in 1950.

IC 2948 is the brightest emission and reflection nebulae towards the southeast, while IC 2944 is the cluster of stars and surrounding nebulosity stretching towards λ Centauri.

The star Lambda Centauri lies just outside IC 2944.

IC 2944/8 image from the Wide Field Imager on the MPG / ESO 2.2-metre telescope