Astronomy Picture of the Day - Cat's Paw Nebula from Webb Space Telescope

NASA ^ | 21 Jul, 2025 | Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

[MtnClimber]

Explanation: Nebulas are perhaps as famous for being identified with familiar shapes as perhaps cats are for getting into trouble. Still, no known cat could have created the vast Cat's Paw Nebula visible toward the constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius). At 5,700 light years distant, Cat's Paw is an emission nebula within a larger molecular cloud. Alternatively known as the Bear Claw Nebula and cataloged as NGC 6334, stars nearly ten times the mass of our Sun have been born there in only the past few million years. Pictured here is a recently released image of the Cat's Paw taken in infrared light by the James Webb Space Telescope. This newly detailed view into the nebula helps provide insight for how turbulent molecular clouds turn gas into stars.

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TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

[MtnClimber]

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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

[MtnClimber]

[MtnClimber]

Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

[Red Badger]

Ace of Clubs...................

[No name given]

Wow.

[mitch5501]

Stunning work of art!

[telescope115]

It’s beautiful.

[mitch5501]

I’ve just returned from a holiday in the outback. We here in Oz are blessed with some of the clearest skies in the world and boy oh boy it lived up to its reputation!
The heavens do indeed declare the glory of God!

[telescope115]

I truly envy you! May your skies always be clear and your light pollution nil!🔭🔭👍👍👍