NGC 6334

{{short description|Emission nebula in the constellation Scorpius}}

{{Infobox nebula

| name = NGC 6334

| image = Cats-paw-eso.jpg

| image_scale = 1.3

| alt =

| caption = Visible light image of the Cat's Paw Nebula from La Silla Observatory

| credit =

| type = emission

| type2 =

| epoch = J2000

| subtype =

| class =

| ra = {{RA|17|20|50.9}}

| dec = {{DEC|−36|06|54}}

| dist_ly = {{cvt|1.34|±|0.2|kpc|ly|abbr=on|disp=output number only}}

| dist_pc = {{val|1340|200|fmt=commas}}

| dist_z =

| appmag_v =

| appdia =

| size_v = {{val|35|×|20|u=arcminute}}

| constellation = Scorpius

| radius_ly = {{val|320|u=ly|p=~}}

| radius_pc =

| dimensions =

| absmag_v =

| notes =

| names = {{odlist | name=Cat's Paw Nebula | NGC=6334 }}, Gum 64, RCW 127, {{nowrap|ESO 392-EN 009}}, Sharpless 8

}}

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. This structure is located in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way, at a distance of approximately {{convert|1.7|kpc|e3ly|1|disp=out|abbr=off|lk=on}} from the Sun.

This nebula is a high mass filamentary cloud structure spanning {{val|320|u=ly|p=~}}. In the visible part of the spectrum, NGC 6334 emits mainly in red (from hydrogen atoms) and blue (from oxygen atoms). The interior is heavily obscured by interstellar dust, with clumps ranging up to {{val|3000|ul=solar mass|fmt=commas}} in mass. Although there is pervasive star formation throughout, several embedded star-forming regions have been identified from infrared and radio emissions. Four of these sites have formed H II regions. 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.

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

Gallery

File:NGC6334Location.png|The location of NGC 6334 (circled in red)

File:VISTA’s infrared view of the Cat’s Paw Nebula.jpg|Infrared view of NGC 6334

File:The star-forming Cat’s Paw Nebula through ArTeMiS’s eyes.jpg|Submillimetre views of the star formation region

File:Protostar blazes and reshapes its stellar nursery.jpg|Star-forming cloud in the Cat's Paw Nebula.{{cite web|title=Protostar blazes and reshapes its stellar nursery|url=https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1712a/|website=www.eso.org|access-date=20 March 2017}}

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite simbad

| title=NGC 6334

| access-date=2007-04-10}}

{{cite journal

| title=Physical properties of the star-forming clusters in NGC 6334. A study of the continuum dust emission with ALMA

| last1=Sadaghiani | first1=M. | last2=Sánchez-Monge | first2=Á.

| last3=Schilke | first3=P. | last4=Liu | first4=H. B.

| last5=Clarke | first5=S. D. | last6=Zhang | first6=Q.

| last7=Girart | first7=J. M. | last8=Seifried | first8=D.

| last9=Aghababaei | first9=A. | last10=Li | first10=H.

| last11=Juárez | first11=C. | last12=Tang | first12=K. S.

| display-authors=1 | journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics

| volume=635 |id=A2 | pages=25 | date=March 2020

| arxiv=1911.06579 | bibcode=2020A&A...635A...2S

| doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201935699 | s2cid=208077028 }}

{{cite journal

| title=Global survey of star clusters in the Milky Way. II. The catalogue of basic parameters

| last1=Kharchenko | first1=N. V. | last2=Piskunov | first2=A. E.

| last3=Schilbach | first3=E. | last4=Röser | first4=S.

| last5=Scholz | first5=R.-D. | display-authors=1

| journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics

| volume=558 | id=A53 | pages=8 | date=2013

| bibcode=2013A&A...558A..53K | arxiv=1308.5822

| doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201322302 | s2cid=118548517 }}

{{cite journal

| title=Statistical study of OB stars in NGC 6334 and NGC 6357

| last1=Russeil | first1=D. | last2=Zavagno | first2=A.

| last3=Adami | first3=C. | last4=Anderson | first4=L. D.

| last5=Bontemps | first5=S. | last6=Motte | first6=F.

| last7=Rodon | first7=J. A. | last8=Schneider | first8=N.

| last9=Ilmane | first9=A. | last10=Murphy | first10=K. J.

| display-authors=1 | journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics

| volume=538 | pages=A142 | year=2012

| doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201117299 | doi-access=free

| bibcode=2012A&A...538A.142R }}

{{cite journal

| title=Trigonometric Parallaxes of High Mass Star Forming Regions: The Structure and Kinematics of the Milky Way

| last1=Reid | first1=M. J. | last2=Menten | first2=K. M.

| last3=Brunthaler | first3=A. | last4=Zheng | first4=X. W.

| last5=Dame | first5=T. M. | last6=Xu | first6=Y.

| last7=Wu | first7=Y. | last8=Zhang | first8=B.

| last9=Sanna | first9=A. | last10=Sato | first10=M.

| last11=Hachisuka | first11=K. | last12=Choi | first12=Y. K.

| last13=Immer | first13=K. | last14=Moscadelli | first14=L.

| last15=Rygl | first15=K. L. J. | last16=Bartkiewicz | first16=A.

| display-authors=1 | journal=The Astrophysical Journal

| volume=783 | pages=130 | year=2014 | issue=2

| doi=10.1088/0004-637X/783/2/130 | doi-access=free

| bibcode=2014ApJ...783..130R | arxiv=1401.5377 }}

{{cite web

| title=NGC 6334, Cat's Paw Nebula(true color)

| publisher=Earth and sky imaging

| website=earthandskyimaging.com |date=October 2019

| url=https://earthandskyimaging.com/product/ngc-6334-cats-paw-nebulatrue-color/?doing_wp_cron=1639154796.5445110797882080078125

| access-date=2025-03-15 }}

{{cite book

| title=1,001 Celestial Wonders to See Before You Die – The Best Sky Objects for Star Gazers

| first=Michael E. | last=Bakich | year=2010

| page=217 | publisher=Springer New York | isbn=9781441917775

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qEhpS7d5ZdAC&pg=PA217 }}

{{cite journal

| title=Stellar Clusters in the NGC 6334 Star-Forming Complex

| display-authors=1 | last1=Feigelson | first1=Eric D.

| last2=Martin | first2=Amanda L. | last3=McNeill | first3=Collin J.

| last4=Broos | first4=Patrick S. | last5=Garmire | first5=Gordon P.

| journal=The Astronomical Journal

| volume=138 | issue=1 | pages=227–239 | date=July 2009

| doi=10.1088/0004-6256/138/1/227 | arxiv=0905.0716

| bibcode=2009AJ....138..227F }}

{{cite journal

| title=The Distribution and Properties of Cold Dust in NGC 6334

| display-authors=1 | last1=Matthews | first1=Henry E.

| last2=McCutcheon | first2=William H. | last3=Kirk | first3=Helen

| last4=White | first4=Glenn J. | last5=Cohen | first5=Martin

| journal=The Astronomical Journal

| volume=136 | issue=5 | pages=2083–2101 | date=November 2008

| doi=10.1088/0004-6256/136/5/2083 | bibcode=2008AJ....136.2083M }}

{{cite journal

| title=NGC 6334 and NGC 6357. Insights from spectroscopy of their OB star populations

| display-authors=1 | last1=Russeil | first1=D.

| last2=Adami | first2=C. | last3=Bouret | first3=J. C.

| last4=Hervé | first4=A. | last5=Parker | first5=Q. A.

| last6=Zavagno | first6=A. | last7=Motte | first7=F.

| journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics

| volume=607 | at=id. A86 | date=November 2017

| doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201629870 | bibcode=2017A&A...607A..86R }}

}}

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20100123132116/http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1003/ On the Trail of a Cosmic Cat] — ESO Photo Release
{{Sky-Map.org}}
{{Cite APOD

| title=The Cat's Paw Nebula

| date=July 17, 2003

| url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030717.html

| access-date=2007-11-05}}