ngc 6334

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NGC 6334 and NGC 6357.

NGC 6334 is located about 5,500 light-years from Earth, while NGC 6357 is further away, at 8,000 light-years. Both are located in the constellation Scorpius (The Scorpion), at the tip of its stinging tail.

The three footpads (NGC 6334) visible to modern telescopes, as well as the pincer-like regions in the nearby Lobster Nebula (NGC 6357), are actually regions of gas—mostly hydrogen—excited by the light of bright, newborn stars. With masses about 10 times that of the Sun, these hot stars emit intense ultraviolet light. When this light encounters hydrogen atoms still present in the stellar nursery where the stars formed, the atoms become ionized. Therefore, huge, cloud-like objects that shine with the light of hydrogen (and other) atoms are called emission nebulae.