September 13, 2017
The stars above are ancient, but your chance to be here is exquisitely temporary.
NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula
Birthday · September 13, 2017
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APOD published September 13, 2017. Credit: George Varouhakis. 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 in 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 or 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.
Image credit: George Varouhakis