NGC 6334



NGC 6334, colloquially known as the Cat's Paw Nebula, or Gum 64, is an emission nebula and star-forming region located in the constellation Scorpius. NGC 6334 was discovered by astronomer John Herschel in 1837, who observed it from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. The nebula is located in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way, at a distance of approximately 1.7 kpc from the Sun.

The nebula is a high mass filamentary cloud structure spanning $~320 ly$. In the visible part of the spectrum, it emits mainly in red (from hydrogen atoms) and blue (from oxygen atoms). Several embedded star-forming regions have been identified from infrared and radio emissions. Four of these sites have formed H II regions.