NGC6334 · Cat's Paw Nebula
| Chinese name | 猫掌星云 |
|---|---|
| Type | Emission nebula |
| Constellation | Sco |
| RA | 17h20m |
| Dec | −36° |
| Apparent magnitude | 5.5ᵐ |
| Hemisphere | Southern |
| Best season | Summer |
| Difficulty | Easy |
| Focal length | 中长焦 800–1200mm |
About
The Cat's Paw Nebula (NGC 6334) lies about 5,500 light-years away in Scorpius, named for several bright red emission lobes arranged like the print of a cat's paw. It is one of the Milky Way's most prolific nurseries of massive stars, forming new stars even faster than the famous Orion Nebula. Multiple embedded star-forming regions have ionized several H II zones, and newborn massive stars, each roughly ten times the Sun's mass, inflate glowing bubbles in the gas with their intense radiation. The nebula spans about 50 light-years and glows an intense red. It is a richly colored, photogenic narrowband target in the southern summer Scorpius sky.