Herschel's view of the War and Peace and Cat's Paw nebulas
The War and Peace Nebula, also known as NGC 6357 (left), and the Cat's Paw Nebula, also known as NGC 6334 (right), seen by ESA's Herschel space observatory.
The War and Peace Nebula hosts several clusters of young, bright and very massive stars that are energising the mixture of gas and dust, making it glow, and carving cavities within the cloud. It lies about 8000 light-years away.
The Cat's Paw Nebula is one of the most prolific stellar nurseries in the Galaxy. It lies about 5500 light-years away and owes its name to its appearance at visible wavelengths.
The image is a composite of the wavelengths of 70 microns (blue), 160 microns (green) and 350 microns (red).
Credit: ESA/Herschel/PACS, SPIRE/Hi-GAL Project
Acknowledgement: G. Li Causi, IAPS/INAF, Italy