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Cat’s Head Nebula: NASA’s Hubble and Webb capture ghostly star nursery in Carina

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NASA’s Hubble and James Webb space telescopes have captured the Cat’s Head Nebula, a ghostly star-forming pillar inside the vast Carina Nebula, about 7,500 light-years from Earth, NASA said in images released on Thursday, 29 October 2026, just ahead of Halloween.

Cat's Head Nebula: Hubble image of the Cat's Head Nebula, an opaque dust pillar edged by a luminous rim of gas
Hubble image of the Cat's Head Nebula, an opaque dust pillar edged by a luminous rim of gas Photo: NASA, ESA, STScI; image processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI) (public domain).

Why it is called the Cat's Head Nebula

The small area observed by both telescopes is nicknamed the Cat’s Head Nebula because it resembles a cat sitting with its back to the viewer, its “head” turned to the right to reveal a glowing eye. The shape was likely sculpted over time by intense ultraviolet radiation and winds from massive stars in the Carina Nebula, NASA said. As this stellar feedback erodes the surrounding gas and dust, denser material in the pillar resists erosion, at least for now. The scene is temporary and will eventually disperse as stars form and evolve, but it is packed with information about the elusive, chaotic and complex process of star formation, and both telescopes are helping astronomers read it.

Key Facts

  • Object: Cat’s Head Nebula, inside the Carina Nebula
  • Distance: about 7,500 light-years
  • Telescopes: Hubble (visible), Webb (near- and mid-infrared)
  • Released: 29 October 2026
  • Image processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

What Hubble and James Webb each reveal

Hubble’s visible-light view shows an opaque, dark brown pillar of dust. The cat’s glowing red eye may be a young star still partly embedded in dust. A hazy yellow ridge along the right edge is consistent with gas lit and ionised by nearby massive stars, possibly driving photoevaporation. Hubble’s filters capture light from oxygen, hydrogen and sulfur, as well as starlight scattered by dust. In Webb’s near-infrared view the pillar becomes more transparent, its surface structure becomes visible, and a dense scattering of stars and even faint background galaxies appear. Webb’s mid-infrared view traces warm dust and carbon-based molecules excited by starlight, showing delicate globules and strands to the left of the pillar.

A young star and the Carina Nebula star formation scene

To the right of the pillar, a bright source that appears yellow in the mid-infrared image is likely an infant star embedded in dust, NASA said. A narrow filament appears to cross it, although the images alone cannot show whether the two are physically related. The Carina Nebula is a diffuse star-forming region, and the complementary views from the two telescopes are helping astronomers learn more about how stars are born. Hubble has operated for more than three decades and is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). Webb is an international programme led by NASA with ESA and the Canadian Space Agency. The images were processed by Joseph DePasquale of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which runs science operations for both observatories.

Why It Matters: Seeing the same pillar in visible and infrared light helps astronomers study how young stars form inside dust clouds.

Also on TrendDesh: NGC 7129: Webb telescope reveals hidden stars and tangled jets in a stellar nursery 3,300 light-years away · Eagle Nebula pillars go sonified: NASA APOD turns Hubble and Chandra data into sound

Source: NASA: Ghostly Cat's Head Nebula · NASA Hubble mission · NASA Webb mission

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