Hubble and Webb image Cat's Head Nebula in new views
Hubble and Webb telescopes have jointly imaged the Cat's Head Nebula, a star-forming region within the Carina Nebula about 7,500 light-years from Earth. Hubble's visible-light view shows a dark elongated dust pillar with hints of young forming stars, while Webb's infrared imagery reveals many hidden stars and details. ESA says ultraviolet light from nearby massive stars is heating and evaporating gas along the pillar's edge. Separately, a University of Arizona team reported Hubble visible-light images of the Cat's Tail, a structure in the Beta Pictoris debris disk 63 light-years away in Pictor, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Key facts
- Hubble's view shows a glowing red spot that may be a young star partly embedded in dust.
- The nebula's shape was likely carved by ultraviolet radiation and winds from massive stars.
- The region is expected to disperse eventually as its stars form and evolve.
- The Cat's Tail had previously been observed only by Webb in infrared light.
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Why it matters
The paired images show how massive stars shape and erode the gas and dust where new stars form.
What changed
First published from ESA, NASA and Phys.org