Bear Claw Nebula

False color view in infrared light.

The Bear Claw Nebula, also known as NGC 6334, is a cloud of gas and dust that appears to be forming massive stars. In visible light, ionized gas makes the nebula appear reddish in color. The false-color photograph to the right, however, was taken in infrared light. There, the glow of starlight absorbing dust is more apparent (depicted in blue). Current research indicates that the bright sources are very young and massive stars. These stars emit light so energetic and intense that it destroys fine grains of dust in their immediate vicinity, creating an abundance of ionized gas (depicted in red).