2 publishers · first seen Thu, 29 Oct 2026 14:01 UTC · updated Thu, 29 Oct 2026 20:20 UTC
NASA's Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes have captured detailed images of the Cat's Head Nebula, a star-forming region within the Carina Nebula located about 7,500 light-years from Earth. The nebula's distinctive shape, resembling a cat sitting with its back turned, was likely sculpted by ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from massive stars. Hubble's visible-light view shows an opaque dust pillar with a glowing red eye, possibly indicating a young star embedded in dust, and a luminous rim of ionized gas.
Webb's near- and mid-infrared views reveal greater structural detail, with the dust filament appearing more transparent and complex surface features becoming visible. The near-infrared image shows a dense scattering of stars and faint background galaxies, while the mid-infrared image highlights intricate structures traced by warm dust and carbon-based molecules. A bright yellow source to the right of the pillar may be an infant star, though its connection to a nearby filament remains uncertain.
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