Picture Purrrrrfect! NASA Snaps Incredible Photo of Cat's Paw Nebula

[Judi Lynn]

By Meghan Bartels, Space.com Senior Writer | October 24, 2018 03:24pm ET

- click for photo -

https://img.purch.com/h/1400/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5zcGFjZS5jb20vaW1hZ2VzL2kvMDAwLzA4MC8yNTIvb3JpZ2luYWwvY2F0cy1wYXctbmVidWxhLTEuanBn

Spitzer sees the world in infrared light, which lets it cut through the clouds of dust that clutter up the galaxy so it can offer a crisp view of places like this nebula. Cat's Paw is located from 4,200 to 5,500 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Scorpius. [Spectacular Nebula Photos from Deep Space!]

Cat's Paw gets its name from the bubbles of hot gas it contains that — if you squint a bit — resemble feline paw pads. Those bubbles surround newly born stars, and Cat's Paw is still a star-forming neighborhood. The greenish background, in contrast, is caused by large chemical compounds fluorescing as they absorb radiation from those young stars.

More:
https://www.space.com/42245-cats-paw-nebula-photo.html

[bobbieinok]

1. Beautiful! Thanks for posting!