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At a distance of 4,200-5,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Scorpio is a familiar-shaped nebula for feline fans. Known as Cat's Paw for obvious reasons, the nebula was photographed using the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope's MIPS (Multiband Camera Imager) and IRAC (Camera Matrix Infrared Camera) instruments. The stunning images show green clouds around red bubbles, which, according to NASA, could be the heated, pressurized and dilated gas left behind after the collapse of dust and gases inside. from the nebula to form stars.
Spitzer and his instruments are based on the infrared, which means that they operate in a different light range than we can see at the naked eye. So, if you find yourself in a spaceship passing the nebula from 80 to 90 light-years away, you would not see the swirling masterpiece depicted on the NASA photos. "The green areas show where the radiation from hot stars has collided with large molecules called" polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ", which has made them fluorescent," the Jet Propulsion Laboratory team said in a message. They added that in some cases, the red pockets of expanded gas can burst, turning the round bubbles into a U shape. A second image shows a bubble that has already burst. There are no green clouds swirling around the pinkish gas as this image was taken only with the IRAC camera, which does not capture fluorescent dust.
Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
In addition to being wallpapers and screen saver images, the Cat's Paw Nebula photos are great because they were taken relatively close to where we are right now. It's always good to get to know your neighbors, and if taking harmless photos of them helps you learn more about the galaxy and how it works, it's something we'll always support.
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