NGC 6334: The Cat’s Paw Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Stefan Steve Bemmerl & Team Wolfatorium (Hakos/Namibia)

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 5,500 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.

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NGC 6334: 猫爪星云 影像提供与版权: Stefan Steve Bemmerl & Team Wolfatorium (Hakos/Namibia)

说明: 星云会因酷似我们常见的形状而声名大噪，就像猫以擅于惹事而出了名一样。不过，没有猫能创造出这个位在天蝎座方向的庞大猫爪星云。离我们5,500光年远的猫爪星云是个发射星云，它红色的辉光来自大量电离的氢原子。亦称为熊爪星云或NGC 6334的猫爪星云，其内部质量将近十倍太阳质量的恒星，是近在过去数百万年内才诞生于此星云里。上面这幅猫爪星云的深空影像，拍摄于原子氢、氧和硫发光的波段。

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