The Cat's Paw Nebula MIPS & IRAC

Spitzer_ssc2018-14a_1024

spitzer_ssc2018-14a October 23rd, 2018

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Cat's Paw Nebula, imaged here by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, lies inside the Milky Way Galaxy and is located in the constellation Scorpius. Its distance from Earth is estimated to be between 1.3 kiloparsecs (about 4,200 light years) to 1.7 kiloparsecs (about 5,500 light years).

The bright, cloudlike band running left to right across the image shows the presence of gas and dust that can collapse to form new stars. The black filaments running through the nebula are particularly dense regions of gas and dust. The entire star-forming region is thought to be between 24 and 27 parsecs (80-90 light years) across.The stars that form inside the nebula heat up the pressurized gas surrounding them, such that the gas may expand and form "bubbles," which appear red in this image. Asymmetric bubbles may "burst," creating U-shaped features.

The green areas show regions where radiation from hot stars collided with large molecules and small dust grains called polycyclic aromatic hydocarbons (PAHs), causing them to fluoresce.

This image was compiled using data from two Spitzer instruments, the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) and the Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS). The colors correspond with wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (cyan), 8 microns (green) and 24 microns (red).

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/6551-ssc2018-14a-The-Cat-s-Paw-Nebula-MIPS-IRAC

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Cat's Paw Nebula Bear Claw Nebula NGC 6334 Gum 64
Subject - Milky Way
Nebula > Type > Star Formation
Nebula > Type > Interstellar Medium
Nebula > Appearance > Emission
Nebula > Appearance > Dark

Distance Details Distance

Universescale1
5,500 light years
Spitzer_ssc2018-14a_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 17h 19m 17.3s
DEC = -36° 3’ 56.4”
Orientation
North is 55.0° CCW
Field of View
1.9 x 0.7 degrees
Constellation
Scorpius

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 3.6 µm
Green Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 8.0 µm
Red Spitzer (MIPS) Infrared (Mid-IR) 24.0 µm
Spectrum_ir1
Blue
Green
Red
Spitzer_ssc2018-14a_1280
×
ID
ssc2018-14a
Subject Category
B.4.1.2   B.4.1.1   B.4.2.1   B.4.2.3  
Subject Name
Cat's Paw Nebula, Bear Claw Nebula, NGC 6334, Gum 64
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Release Date
2018-10-23
Lightyears
5,500
Redshift
5,500
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/6551-ssc2018-14a-The-Cat-s-Paw-Nebula-MIPS-IRAC
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer
Instrument
IRAC, IRAC, MIPS
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Red
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Near-IR, Mid-IR, Mid-IR
Central Wavelength
3600, 8000, 24000
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
Reference Value
259.82189809300, -36.06566191500
Reference Dimension
11402.00, 4215.00
Reference Pixel
6326.34863444462, 2425.56491357186
Scale
-0.00016689871, 0.00016689871
Rotation
54.96147131878
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
World Coordinate System resolved using PinpointWCS 0.9.2 revision 218+ by the Chandra X-ray Center
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
ssc2018-14a.tif
Metadata Date
2018-10-25
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
5,500 light years

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