NGC 6334

NGC 6334 is a massive emission nebula and star-forming region located in the constellation Scorpius. It is colloquially known as the Cat's Paw Nebula, and can be found 3° to the west-northwest of the bright star Lambda Scorpii. NGC 6334 was discovered by English astronomer John Herschel on June 7, 1837, who observed it from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. It spans an angular area larger than the full Moon.^[3] This structure is located in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way,^[6] at a distance of approximately 5.5 thousand light-years from the Sun.^[7]

NGC 6334

Emission nebula
Visible light image of the Cat's Paw Nebula from La Silla Observatory
Observation data: J2000 epoch
Right ascension	17h 20m 50.9s[1]
Declination	−36° 06′ 54″[1]
Distance	4,370 ± 650[2] ly   (1,340±200[2] pc)
Apparent dimensions (V)	35′ × 20′[3]
Constellation	Scorpius
Physical characteristics
Radius	~320 ly[4] ly
Designations	Cat's Paw Nebula, NGC 6334, Gum 64, RCW 127, ESO 392-EN 009,[5] Sharpless 8
See also: Lists of nebulae

This nebula is a high mass filamentary cloud structure spanning ~320 ly. In the visible part of the spectrum, NGC 6334 emits mainly in red (from hydrogen atoms) and blue (from oxygen atoms).^[4] The interior is heavily obscured by interstellar dust, with clumps ranging up to 3,000 M_☉ in mass. Although there is pervasive star formation throughout,^[8] several embedded star-forming regions have been identified from infrared and radio emissions.^[6] Four of these sites have formed H II regions.^[6] X-ray sources within the nebula show the presence of ten distinct stellar clusters, most of which are associated with already identified infrared sources and H II regions.^[9]

NGC 6334 is connected by a filamentary structure to NGC 6357, and the two may form a single complex.^[10]

Gallery

• 
  The location of NGC 6334 (circled in red)
• 
  Infrared view of NGC 6334
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  Submillimetre views of the star formation region
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  Star-forming cloud in the Cat's Paw Nebula.^[11]