Space Cats: The Cat’s Paw Nebula

13 February, 2017 / Read time: 1 minute

In this video we can see images of the nebula NGC 6334, located in the constellation of Scorpius about 5500 light-years away. This huge gas cloud, also called the Cat's Paw Nebula, is an interesting star-forming region, and thanks to the resolution of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), we will be able to better understand how stars form.

National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) astronomer Crystal Brogan reports on the results of one of the observations of a particular region of this nebula, NGC 6334I, and explains some details about the process of star formation and the molecules that form around it, while we watch fascinating animations that make it easier to understand these processes.

Credits: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2; Matthew Bate (University of Exeter); NASA/GFSC Scientific Visualization Studio; NCSA, NASA, A. Kritsuk, M. Norman, A. Boley; NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC/Caltech); NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO; NASA, ESA/Hubble/M. Kornmesser & L.L. Christensen, NASA/GFSC/G. Shirah, J. Tucciarone; Music: Mark Mercury, Geodesium