A Cosmic Cat’s Paw. Emission nebula NGC 6334, otherwise known as the Cat’s Paw Nebula, lies about 4,000 light-years away. Instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope recently took a detailed look at ...

Some deep-sky objects stand on their own. Others pair up with notable companions. Occasionally, the surrounding star field helps elevate a rather ordinary object's status. Such is the case with the ...

A massive cloud of dust and glowing gases speckled with newborn stars in the shape of a seagull shines in a stunning image captured by a telescope in Chile. A new photo from the European Southern ...

The Hubble Space Telescope may be experiencing problems this week, but it continues to offer a massive trove of data for astronomers to explore — including this week’s image of the beautiful and ...

Emission Nebulae Emission nebulae are so named because they emit their own light. This type of nebula forms when the intense radiation of stars within or near the nebula energizes the gas. A star’s ...

This image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope showcases the emission nebula NGC 2313. Emission nebulae are bright, diffuse clouds of ionized gas that emit their own light. ESA/Hubble, R.

A rosy red nebula takes center stage in a new photo from the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The expansive cloud of dust and gas, known as IC1284, is an emission nebula, a bright, diffuse cloud ...

Many scientific terms are very specific, but the term nebula is, well, nebulous. In a very generic sense, it simply means a fuzzy thing. But there are a wide variety of astronomical objects that can ...

The article details various types of deep-sky objects observable by amateur astronomers, including double stars, variable stars, open and globular star clusters, emission, planetary, and reflection ...