Journey to The Cat’s Paw Nebula in Scorpius | James Webb Space Telescope

Journey to The Cat’s Paw Nebula in Scorpius | James Webb Space Telescope

This video takes the viewer on a journey through space to reveal Webb’s third anniversary image of the Cat’s Paw Nebula (NGC 6334), a massive, local star-forming region. With its near-infrared capabilities and sharp resolution, the telescope “clawed” back a portion of a singular “toe bean,” revealing a subset of mini toe bean-reminiscent structures composed of gas, dust, and young stars.

Webb’s view reveals a chaotic scene still in development—massive young stars are carving away at nearby gas and dust, while their bright starlight is producing a bright nebulous glow represented in blue. The disruptive young stars, with their relatively short lifespans and luminosity, will eventually quench the local star formation process.

The Cat’s Paw Nebula is located approximately 4,000 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius.

Credit:
ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, STScI, ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA, Digitized Sky Survey 2, N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb), E. Slawik, N. Risinger, D. De Martin, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)

Duration: 1 minute, 30 seconds
Release Date: July 10, 2025

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