To celebrate its third year of revealing stunning scenes of the cosmos in infrared light, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has “clawed” back the thick, dusty layers of a section within the Cat’s Paw Nebula (NGC 6334).
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team released this image of the Cat’s Paw Nebula on July 10, 2025, in honor of the telescope’s third anniversary. Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) revealed never-before-seen structural details and features: Massive young stars carve away at nearby gas and dust, while their bright starlight produces a bright nebulous glow represented in blue. As a consequence of these massive stars’ lively behavior, the local star formation process will eventually come to a stop.
Take a tour through this section of the Cat’s Paw Nebula.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
为庆祝其以红外光揭示宇宙壮丽景象的第三年，NASA的詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜“撕开”了猫爪星云（NGC 6334）内一处区域厚重的尘埃层。
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
NASA的詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜团队于2025年7月10日发布了这张猫爪星云的图像，以纪念望远镜投入科学运行三周年。韦伯的近红外相机（NIRCam）揭示了此前从未见过的结构细节和特征：大量年轻恒星在附近气体和尘埃中开辟出空洞，它们明亮的星光在图中以蓝色呈现，照亮了周围的星云。由于这些大质量恒星活跃的行为，这一区域的恒星形成过程最终将会停止。
图片来源: NASA、ESA、CSA、STScI
