APOD: NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula (2014 Jun 18)

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APOD: NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula (2014 Jun 18)

Post by APOD Robot » Wed Jun 18, 2014 4:10 am

Image NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula

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 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 above is a deep field image of the Cat's Paw nebula.

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Re: APOD: NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula (2014 Jun 18)

Post by Ann » Wed Jun 18, 2014 4:17 am

Click to play embedded YouTube video.
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Re: APOD: NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula (2014 Jun 18)

Post by Ann » Wed Jun 18, 2014 4:33 am

Joking aside, this is a fine picture of a fascinating and complex nebula. I'm unused to seeing that blue patch of light in the middle. My guess is that the blue patch is a reflection nebula which is rarely seen. NGC 6334 is a highly reddened nebula, and the blue light from it has been mostly filtered away by dust between us and the nebula. This fine picture by Manuel Jung (http://www.sternklar.ch) gives you an idea of how reddened the Cat's Paw Nebula and its "neighbour", NGC 6357, really are. But this closeup of the Cat's Paw by T.A. Rector and T. Abbott suggests, to me at least, that there is a reflection nebula (or two) in there.

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Re: APOD: NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula (2014 Jun 18)

Post by neufer » Wed Jun 18, 2014 8:21 am

APOD Robot wrote:
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. Cat's Paw is an emission nebula with a red color that originates from an abundance of ionized hydrogen atoms.
http://www.guesswhichmovie.com/gimage/7 ... be12cf.jpg
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Re: APOD: NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula (2014 Jun 18)

Post by Beyond » Wed Jun 18, 2014 3:42 pm

Speaking of a cat in trouble... this one was trying to make her own Cat's Paw Nebula. It has her paw print echos all over it.
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
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Re: APOD: NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula (2014 Jun 18)

Post by LocalColor » Wed Jun 18, 2014 3:58 pm

This image is the cat's meow!

"The cat's meow," an expression referring to something that is considered outstanding; coined by American cartoonist Thomas A. Dorgan (1877–1929)

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Re: APOD: NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula (2014 Jun 18)

Post by starsurfer » Wed Jun 18, 2014 4:45 pm

Ann wrote:Joking aside, this is a fine picture of a fascinating and complex nebula. I'm unused to seeing that blue patch of light in the middle. My guess is that the blue patch is a reflection nebula which is rarely seen. NGC 6334 is a highly reddened nebula, and the blue light from it has been mostly filtered away by dust between us and the nebula. This fine picture by Manuel Jung (http://www.sternklar.ch) gives you an idea of how reddened the Cat's Paw Nebula and its "neighbour", NGC 6357, really are. But this closeup of the Cat's Paw by T.A. Rector and T. Abbott suggests, to me at least, that there is a reflection nebula (or two) in there.

Ann
Yes this nebula has reflection nebulae but I guess are washed out in processing Ha in most amateur images. There are a few astrophotographers who process Ha and narrowband perfectly to preserve reflection nebulae and dust. One of the reasons for its intensely red colour is the extinction of blue light by interstellar dust, a process known as interstellar reddening.

Also I feel this image looks better north up.

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Re: APOD: NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula (2014 Jun 18)

Post by Boomer12k » Wed Jun 18, 2014 5:00 pm

That is just an AWESOME PICTURE!!!

The center looks like it is a Bubble with a reflection of some of the surrounding "redder" areas....but is just an illusion on my part, I am sure....still....it looks like a pond of water, an oasis in the vast depths of space.

And who is to say....maybe a Galactic Cat walked by there....I saw this huge Jelly Fish on Star Trek once.....it could happen!!!!
Here kitty, kitty.....

The weather just has not quite cooperated here yet....soon....soon....

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Re: APOD: NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula (2014 Jun 18)

Post by Boomer12k » Wed Jun 18, 2014 5:03 pm

ANN!!!!!

OH GOD...THAT VIDEO WAS JUST HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!

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Re: APOD: NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula (2014 Jun 18)

Post by Cousin Ricky » Fri Jun 20, 2014 1:24 am

APOD Robot wrote:Still, no known cat could have created the vast Cat's Paw Nebula visible in Scorpius.
Not even Ceiling Cat? :mrgreen:

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Re: APOD: NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula (2014 Jun 18)

Post by geckzilla » Fri Jun 20, 2014 1:25 am

Ceiling Cat knows of other things.
Just call me "geck" because "zilla" is like a last name.

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