                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
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                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                 2022 May 10

                       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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