Emission nebula in the constellation Scorpius
NGC 6334 is a massiveemission nebula andstar-forming region located in theconstellation Scorpius . It is colloquially known as theCat's Paw Nebula , and can be found 3° to the west-northwest of the bright starLambda Scorpii . NGC 6334 was discovered by English astronomerJohn Herschel on June 7, 1837, who observed it from theCape of Good Hope inSouth Africa . It spans an angular area larger than thefull Moon .[ 3] Carina–Sagittarius Arm of theMilky Way ,[ 6] light-years from theSun .[ 7]
Thisnebula is a high mass filamentary cloud structure spanning[ 4] interstellar dust , with clumps ranging up toM ☉ [ 8] radio emissions .[ 6] H II regions .[ 6] X-ray sources within the nebula show the presence of ten distinctstellar clusters , most of which are associated with already identified infrared sources and H II regions.[ 9]
NGC 6334 is connected by a filamentary structure toNGC 6357 , and the two may form a single complex.[ 10]
The location of NGC 6334 (circled in red)
Infrared view of NGC 6334
Submillimetre views of the star formation region
Star-forming cloud in the Cat's Paw Nebula.
[ 11] ^a b Kharchenko, N. V.; et al. (2013). "Global survey of star clusters in the Milky Way. II. The catalogue of basic parameters".Astronomy and Astrophysics .558 : 8.arXiv :1308.5822 Bibcode :2013A&A...558A..53K .doi :10.1051/0004-6361/201322302 .S2CID 118548517 . A53. ^a b Reid, M. J.; et al. (2014)."Trigonometric Parallaxes of High Mass Star Forming Regions: The Structure and Kinematics of the Milky Way" .The Astrophysical Journal .783 (2): 130.arXiv :1401.5377 Bibcode :2014ApJ...783..130R .doi :10.1088/0004-637X/783/2/130 ^a b Bakich, Michael E. (2010).1,001 Celestial Wonders to See Before You Die – The Best Sky Objects for Star Gazers ISBN 9781441917775 ^a b "NGC 6334, Cat's Paw Nebula(true color)" .earthandskyimaging.com . Earth and sky imaging. October 2019. Retrieved2025-03-15 .^ "NGC 6334" .SIMBAD Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg . Retrieved2007-04-10 .^a b c Sadaghiani, M.; et al. (March 2020). "Physical properties of the star-forming clusters in NGC 6334. A study of the continuum dust emission with ALMA".Astronomy & Astrophysics .635 : 25.arXiv :1911.06579 Bibcode :2020A&A...635A...2S .doi :10.1051/0004-6361/201935699 .S2CID 208077028 . A2. ^ Russeil, D.; et al. (2012)."Statistical study of OB stars in NGC 6334 and NGC 6357" .Astronomy & Astrophysics .538 : A142.Bibcode :2012A&A...538A.142R .doi :10.1051/0004-6361/201117299 ^ Matthews, Henry E.; et al. (November 2008). "The Distribution and Properties of Cold Dust in NGC 6334".The Astronomical Journal .136 (5):2083– 2101.Bibcode :2008AJ....136.2083M .doi :10.1088/0004-6256/136/5/2083 . ^ Feigelson, Eric D.; et al. (July 2009). "Stellar Clusters in the NGC 6334 Star-Forming Complex".The Astronomical Journal .138 (1):227– 239.arXiv :0905.0716 Bibcode :2009AJ....138..227F .doi :10.1088/0004-6256/138/1/227 . ^ Russeil, D.; et al. (November 2017). "NGC 6334 and NGC 6357. Insights from spectroscopy of their OB star populations".Astronomy & Astrophysics .607 . id. A86.Bibcode :2017A&A...607A..86R .doi :10.1051/0004-6361/201629870 . ^ "Protostar blazes and reshapes its stellar nursery" .www.eso.org . Retrieved20 March 2017 .Wikimedia Commons has media related to
NGC 6334 .
On the Trail of a Cosmic Cat —ESO Photo ReleaseNGC 6334 onWikiSky :DSS2 ,SDSS ,GALEX ,IRAS ,Hydrogen α ,X-Ray ,Astrophoto ,Sky Map ,Articles and images Nemiroff, R.; Bonnell, J., eds. (July 17, 2003)."The Cat's Paw Nebula" .Astronomy Picture of the Day NASA . Retrieved2007-11-05 . Nemiroff, R.; Bonnell, J., eds. (April 21, 2010)."Wide Angle: The Cat's Paw Nebula" .Astronomy Picture of the Day NASA . Retrieved2025-03-15 . "NGC 6334 - The Cat's Paw Nebula" .SEDS Database . SEDS. Retrieved2008-04-15 .Cat's Paw Nebula at Constellation Guide
![Star-forming cloud in the Cat's Paw Nebula.[11]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aProtostar_blazes_and_reshapes_its_stellar_nursery.jpg)
