Scorpius Nebulae: The Cat's Paw Nebula, and NGC 6357
 Images Copyright © 2008, 2009 by Dick Locke.  All Rights Reserved.  Contact and Image Use Information

Cat's Paw Nebula Area Mosaic

Above:  The red emission nebula called the Cat's Paw Nebula (NGC 6334) is in the center, with NGC 6357 on the lower right and dark nebula Barnard 258 between them.  The two bright stars on the lower right are upsilon and lambda Sco, near the top of the scorpion's tail.  Dark nebula Barnard 242 is on the left edge just above center, with two bright stars that make the whole thing look like a small crab.  Barnard 53 is on the left top.  March 2009, Davis Mountains.  Other March 2009 Astronomy Images are here.  Check out a wider view of this area on my Southern Milky Way Mosaic Page

Assembled from 100 individual frames (scroll down to see "close-ups" of the red nebulae):

• 132 minutes (33 x 4 min.) with the  Olympus Zuiko 135mm f2.8 camera lens mounted to my Canon EOS D20a

• 165 minutes (33 x 5 min.) on NGC6357 with the Takahashi TOA 130  Telescope (a 5" APO refractor telescope) with the reducer, AP 900GTO mount, QHY8 CCD Camera

• 170 minutes (34 x 5 min.) on the Cat's Paw area (NGC 6334) with the Takahashi TOA 130  Telescope (a 5" APO refractor telescope) with the reducer, AP 900GTO mount, QHY8 CCD Camera

NGC 6357

This is another interesting nebula near the scorpion's tail, only a few degrees away from the cat's paw.  33 * 5 = 165 minutes total exposure over a couple nights.

Cat's Paw 2009, NGC 6334

Perhaps over processed it a bit...  34x5 minutes, Takahashi TOA 130  Telescope (a 5" APO refractor telescope) with the reducer, AP 900GTO mount, QHY8 CCD Camera.  Other pictures from the camera are are here.  Images processed using my Astronomy Image Processing Workflow.  This was the last image from my March 2009 trip to the Davis Mountains.  I set up the shot around 4 in the morning, went to bed, and hoped for the best.  Compare the image above with my older DSLR image at the bottom of this page.    Other March 2009 Astronomy Images

Cat's Paw Nebula: NGC 6334 (NGC6334)

Above, an older pictures shows NGC 6334, the Cat's Paw nebula in southern Scorpius.  This was the last shot of the night as it rose in the SE around 4:00 a.m.  9x4=36min exposure March 9, 2008.  All astronomy images:  Canon EOS 20Da (unmodified), Takahashi TOA 130 (a 5" APO refractor) with the TAK flattener, guided with  SBIG STV, Astro-Physics AP 900GTO mount.    My current image processing workflow is here.  Other HAS pictures from March 2008 are here.

http://www.astrosurf.com/antilhue/ngc_6334.htm and http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap991207.html and a picture with a huge professional scope http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080304.html

Antares Pictures and Area Index