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]

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]

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

References

  1. ^ a b Kharchenko, N. V.; et al. (2013). "Global survey of star clusters in the Milky Way. II. The catalogue of basic parameters". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 558: 8. arXiv:1308.5822. Bibcode:2013A&A...558A..53K. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201322302. S2CID 118548517. A53.
  2. ^ a b Reid, M. J.; et al. (2014). "Trigonometric Parallaxes of High Mass Star Forming Regions: The Structure and Kinematics of the Milky Way". The Astrophysical Journal. 783 (2): 130. arXiv:1401.5377. Bibcode:2014ApJ...783..130R. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/783/2/130.
  3. ^ a b Bakich, Michael E. (2010). 1,001 Celestial Wonders to See Before You Die – The Best Sky Objects for Star Gazers. Springer New York. p. 217. ISBN 9781441917775.
  4. ^ a b "NGC 6334, Cat's Paw Nebula(true color)". earthandskyimaging.com. Earth and sky imaging. October 2019. Retrieved 2025-03-15.
  5. ^ "NGC 6334". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2007-04-10.
  6. ^ a b c Sadaghiani, M.; et al. (March 2020). "Physical properties of the star-forming clusters in NGC 6334. A study of the continuum dust emission with ALMA". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 635: 25. arXiv:1911.06579. Bibcode:2020A&A...635A...2S. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201935699. S2CID 208077028. A2.
  7. ^ Russeil, D.; et al. (2012). "Statistical study of OB stars in NGC 6334 and NGC 6357". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 538: A142. Bibcode:2012A&A...538A.142R. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201117299.
  8. ^ Matthews, Henry E.; et al. (November 2008). "The Distribution and Properties of Cold Dust in NGC 6334". The Astronomical Journal. 136 (5): 2083–2101. Bibcode:2008AJ....136.2083M. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/136/5/2083.
  9. ^ Feigelson, Eric D.; et al. (July 2009). "Stellar Clusters in the NGC 6334 Star-Forming Complex". The Astronomical Journal. 138 (1): 227–239. arXiv:0905.0716. Bibcode:2009AJ....138..227F. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/138/1/227.
  10. ^ Russeil, D.; et al. (November 2017). "NGC 6334 and NGC 6357. Insights from spectroscopy of their OB star populations". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 607. id. A86. Bibcode:2017A&A...607A..86R. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201629870.
  11. ^ "Protostar blazes and reshapes its stellar nursery". www.eso.org. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_6334
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