Cat’s Paw Nebula tagged posts

An international team of astronomers has investigated a nearby emission nebula and star-forming region dubbed the Cat’s Paw Nebula as part of the B-field In STar-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey. Results of this study, presented in a paper published December 24 on arXiv.org, provide essential information about the structure of the object’s complex magnetic field.

At a distance of some 4,240 light years away, the Cat’s Paw Nebula (other designations: NGC 6334, Gum 64) is a high-mass star-forming complex that lies within the galactic plane. The nebula has a form of a filamentary cloud structure spanning 1,000 light years and hosts several star-forming regions.

Observations show that NGC 6334 is dominated by both a dense ridge threaded by sub-filaments, and by two hub-li...

This spectacular image from the VLT Survey Telescope shows the Cat’s Paw Nebula (NGC 6334, upper right) and the Lobster Nebula (NGC 6357, lower left). These dramatic objects are regions of active star formation where the hot young stars are causing the surrounding hydrogen gas to glow red. The very rich field of view also includes dark clouds of dust. With around two billion pixels this is one of the largest images ever released by ESO. Credit: ESO

NGC6334 is 5500 light-years away from Earth, while NGC6357 is more remote, at 8000 light-years. Both are in the constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion), near the tip of its stinging tail...