Check out this glowing ruby-red image of the Lambda Centauri Nebula, also known as IC 2944, and sometimes called the Running Chicken Nebula. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) released this image today (September 21, 2011). It’s a cloud of hydrogen, illuminated by hot, bright newborn stars, in the direction of the southern constellation Centaurus the Centaur. The Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile acquired this image.