NGC 6334-The Cats Paw Nebula

Explanation via APOD: Nebulas are perhaps as famous for being identified with familiar shapes as perhaps cats are for getting into trouble. Still, no known cat could have created the vast Cat's Paw Nebula visible in Scorpius. At 5,500 light years distant, Cat's Paw is an emission nebula with a red color that originates from an abundance of ionized hydrogen atoms. Alternatively known as the Bear Claw Nebula or NGC 6334, stars nearly ten times the mass of our Sun have been born there in only the past few million years.

Below are 4 different versions of this wonderful nebula using an array of filters and one with the stars removed.

Data from El Sauce, Chile 17” Planewave CDK