RUNNING CHICKEN NEBULA
This image, acquired by the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, shows a glowing red image of the Lambda Centauri Nebula, also known as IC 2944, and sometimes called the Running Chicken Nebula. It is 6,500 light-years away, in the direction of the southern constellation Centaurus the Centaur. It is a cloud of hydrogen illuminated by hot, bright newborn stars glowing with ultraviolet light. The intense radiation from the stars excites the surrounding hydrogen cloud, causing it to glow red.
The series of black clumps silhouetted against the red background within IC 2944 are examples of Bok globules. These globules are dense dust clouds that are opaque to visible light, but when observed with infrared telescopes show stars forming within them. The most obvious collection of Bok globules in this image is known as Thackeray’s Globules, after the South African astronomer who first noted them in the 1950s; they are visible within a group of bright stars in the upper right of the image. See more about these globules in my recent post here: https://therealuniverse.tumblr.com/post/630054455364157440/thackerays-globules-the-largest-of-these-dark
IC 2944 is nicknamed the Running Chicken Nebula as some astronomers see a bird-like shape in its brightest region.
-TEL
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1135a/
Image credit: ESO
