May 10, 2022
The oldest light in the universe still hums faintly through space, a relic of the beginning itself.
NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula
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APOD published May 10, 2022. Credit: Stefan Steve Bemmerl & Team Wolfatorium (Hakos/Namibia). A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
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 5,500 light years distant, Cat's Paw is an emission nebula with a red color that originates from an abundance of ionized hydrogen atoms. 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 deep field image of the Cat's Paw Nebula in light emitted by hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur. Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
Image credit: Stefan Steve Bemmerl & Team Wolfatorium (Hakos/Namibia)