Cat’s Paw Nebula
RA 17h 21m · Dec -36° 07′
30′

A bright, complex emission nebula in Scorpius containing several massive star-forming regions. The paw-print shape is clear in Hα images. Only accessible from southern latitudes or very low on the southern horizon from the UK.

Emission nebula

Cat’s Paw Nebula

NGC 6334 · Scorpius
These photons are ~5,500 years old
HαHydrogen-alpha at 656nm. The deep red glow of ionised hydrogen and the backbone of emission-nebula and solar imaging.iTelescope T8iTelescope Takahashi FSQ EDSiding Spring Observatory, Australia (Q62) · Takahashi FSQ-ED Petzval apo astrograph · Aperture 106mm · Focal length 530mm · f/5 · Camera FLI Microline…View equipment →
⧉ 4 versions of this capture — pick one to see its image and log
Date
26/07/2026
Location
Siding Spring Observatory (remote)
Integration
90m (Ha 9 x 600s)
Software
PythonastropyastroalignSEPscikit-imagephotutilsAstrometry.net
Notes
Everything the measurements justify and nothing they do not. The background fit is constrained so it cannot eat the nebula it is sitting on; deconvolution is star-protected and held to the measured 2.6 px seeing rather than pushed past it; and a second tone curve lifts the faint outer structure without clipping the star-forming cores. Plate-solved against Gaia DR3 - 617 stars, 0.47 arcsec residual - so the scale and orientation below are measured, not assumed.
Moon
🌔Waxing gibbous, 90% lit
Plate solve
Centre RA
17h 20m 32.9s
Centre Dec
-36° 06′ 35″
Field
3.99° × 3.99°
Pixel scale
3.51″/px
Orientation
-8.6° E of N
Hemisphere
Southern
Also in this frame
NGC 6334NGC6334C69NGC6357

Catalogued objects inside the plate-solved field, nearest the centre first. Highlighted names have their own photo here.

TelescopeiTelescope T8

Where to find it

Finder chart
-38°-37°-36°-35°-34°17h12m17h16m17h20m17h24m17h28mNGC 6302NGC 6334NGC 6357NE3.99° x 3.99°30′

Star field and catalogued objects inside the plate-solved field, oriented to the solve. Fully offline, from the bundled star and deep-sky catalogues.

Interactive sky chart centred on 17 20 32.9 -36 06 35. Drag to pan, scroll to zoom, click a star or object to identify it. Zoom in to the plate-solved field for the DSS survey photo; zoom out for constellation figures and neighbouring catalogue objects. Fully self-hosted: the star and deep-sky catalogues and the survey image are all served from this site, so nothing external loads. Imagery: DSS2 colour (STScI / POSS-II). Constellation figures © Dominic Ford (GPLv3).

Captured remotely from · Australia
Bortle 2 · truly dark
Siding Spring Observatory · view on OpenStreetMap ↗ · Place data © GeoNames (CC BY)

Frequently asked questions

What kind of object is NGC 6334?
NGC 6334 is an emission nebula.
Which constellation is NGC 6334 in?
NGC 6334 lies in the constellation Scorpius.
How far away is NGC 6334?
The light in this image left NGC 6334 roughly ~5,500 years ago, so that is how far back in time you are seeing it.
What are the coordinates of NGC 6334?
NGC 6334 sits at right ascension 17h 20m 33s and declination −36° 06′ 35″ (J2000).
When is the best time to photograph NGC 6334?
NGC 6334 rides highest in the evening sky around June, reaching about 85° above the horizon from Siding Spring Observatory (31°S).
What else is in this frame?
The plate-solved field also contains C69 and NGC6357.
What equipment was used to photograph NGC 6334?
This image of NGC 6334 was captured with iTelescope T8.
How much exposure time went into this image?
This image of NGC 6334 represents 90m (Ha 9 x 600s) of total integration time.

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