Glimpse of the Cat’s Paw

SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE, 23 OCTOBER 2018

The Galactic Legacy Infrared Midplane Survey Extraordinaire (GLIMPSE) is a survey of the Milky Way Galaxy using Spitzer, and this incredible image is just one of many produced as part of the mission. It shows the Cat’s Paw Nebula, a stellar nursery 5,500 lightyears away, revealing its glowing clouds and black filaments of dense gas and dust, which may one day collapse in on themselves precipitating the formation of new stars.