Real Cat Paisley’s Basepaws Report

The results are in! We received the first report (the Alpha Report) from Real Cat Paisley’s Basepaws DNA testing just over a week ago, and boy, are we excited. This report includes information on how similar Paisley is to 16 wildcats and 27 domestic cats. In this post, we’ll share our experiences with the process and of course Paisley’s results.

 Collecting the sample

Basepaws sends you a kit to collect fur from your cat; if you have a hairless cat, you get a swab to collect cheek cells. They also provide a postage-paid box to return your sample. You collect the fur with two pieces of clear tape that you stick onto your cat’s back and leave on for a few minutes. Paisley kept trying to reach around and get the tape off, so old SoLT had to hang on to her until the time was up. You then gently peel the tape off and join the sticky sides of the two pieces together to capture the fur between them. This process is not supposed to be painful for the cat, and Paisley didn’t seem too bothered by it, other than not enjoying having tape on her back.

When we ordered our kit, they were still sending cheek swabs for all cats, so we had to do this part as well. Paisley did not appreciate having that swab put in her mouth, and she did a lot of wiggling (a LOT of wiggling!). Old SoLT did the best she could, but she didn’t rub the cheek as thoroughly as the instructions said to. We suspect that a cat who is used to having their teeth brushed would accept this part more easily.

After you package everything up and send it off, you sit back and wait for the results.

What Basepaws does with your sample

When Basepaws receives your sample, they extract your cat’s DNA and sequence it. Just like humans, cats get their DNA from their parents, who got their DNA from their parents, and so on. DNA is pretty cool stuff. It is made up of building blocks called “bases,” and the order these bases appear in determines the genetic code. When Basepaws “sequences” your cat’s DNA, they’re figuring out the specific order of those bases.

Then they compare your cat’s sequence with the sequences of other cats. Over 99% of the sequence will be the same from cat to cat, so Basepaws is really looking for the tiny parts that set your cat apart.

Once they have done all the scientific work, they prepare a report that you can access through your account. Our Alpha Report included Paisley’s Breed Index (telling us what kind of cat she really is) and her Wild Cats Index (telling us what wild cats she shares a bit more DNA with). Basepaws is constantly refining their process, and they promise periodic report updates as they learn more.

Paisley’s Breed Index

We’ll admit that we hoped for a little surprise in Paisley’s breed, but the results show that she is as we truly suspected: a domestic shorthair. But there are a few breeds that she has a little more in common with than others, genetically speaking. Her top three matches are Maine Coon, Tennessee Rex (a breed we honestly had never heard of), and Tonkinese. So Paisley might have a teeny bit more in common with these breeds genetically, but the markers on her report fall squarely in the “Domestic” range.

The result from the Maine coon portion of Paisley's report. She might have a little more in common
with this breed than with most others, but the blue marker falls squarely in the Domestic range--
so she's not a Maine coon! The narrow marker indicates a lower degree of certainty.

 

Of the 27 related breeds in the report, Paisley apparently has the least in common with the Peterbald.

On the Peterbald portion of Paisley's report, the marker is wide and falls way down on the Less Likely end.
This means there is high certainty that she's not a Peterbald.

Paisley’s Wild Cats Index

On the wild side, Paisley’s top matches were the snow leopard (100%), the ocelot (100%), and the flat-headed cat (99%). Basepaws explained to us that a percentage above 50% means your cat shares more DNA with that wild cat than the average domestic cat does. This is probably due to random chance—it doesn’t mean that Paisley is a direct descendent of a snow leopard or ocelot! Paisley also has fairly high matches (above 80%) with the clouded leopard, Eurasian lynx, and leopard cat.

The snow leopard was one of Paisley's highest wild cat matches. This means that she has slightly more in
common genetically with snow leopards than the average domestic cat does. The similarity is probably
due to random chance and doesn't mean that Paisley has a snow leopard somewhere in her family tree.

Of the 13 related wild cats in the report, Paisley’s lowest matches were the serval (3%) and puma (1%).

Our reaction

We are immensely pleased with our experience with Basepaws. It took a few months longer than we expected to get the results, but Basepaws kept us updated with periodic emails to explain the delay (they were refining their process). Old SoLT is pretty patient about things like this and wasn’t bothered by it, but some people might be.

Besides the information in the report we received, we like knowing that this is just the first one; there will be more information to come as more cats have their DNA sequenced. Health, Traits, and Wellness reports are still in the works.

Another big plus is the customer service we received from Basepaws. The couple of times we had to ask questions, we got prompt and helpful answers, which we really appreciated.

And we appreciate knowing that Paisley is not secretly descended from an exotic breed, an heiress to a cat fortune of some sort. Honestly, old SoLT would not know what to do with an heiress. And you don’t have to be exotic to have an interesting ancestry. This process has made us think about how similar all cats really are. Within their DNA, all cats have an essential “catness” that comes from a long-ago ancestor, and we can’t stop thinking about how cool that is. Old SoLT is saving up to get a kit for Webster later this year.

Highly recommended!

We highly recommend Basepaws if you’re curious about your cat’s background. It could be especially interesting if you suspect your rescue kitty is part [insert suspected breed here]. We like knowing that Basepaws testing is not a one-and-done deal. You will find out even more about your cat in the future as new reports become available.

The kit is $95, and shipping is free in the US.

Science Says Dogs Are Smarter Than Cats…Does It Matter?

By now you may have heard the latest news in the seemingly never-ending conflict between “dog people” and “cat people”: study results that were first reported last week^* showed dogs have more brain power than cats. Specifically, dogs were found to have more neurons in their cerebral cortex than cats have. The cerebral cortex is the outer part of the brain, where thinking happens, so how many “little gray cells” you have in it is important.

Comparing carnivores’ brains

The researchers, including Suzana Herculano-Houzel, an associate professor of psychology and biological sciences at Vanderbilt University, looked at the brains of eight species of carnivores: bear, lion, ferret, racoon, mongoose, hyena, and (obviously) cat and dog. They wanted to compare the number of neurons vs. brain size between the species. Dogs were found to have about 530 million cortical neurons, vs. 250 million for cats.

What does this mean? Herculano-Houzel—an admitted dog person—was quoted as saying, “I believe the absolute number of neurons an animal has, especially in the cerebral cortex, determines the richness of their internal mental state and their ability to predict what is about to happen in their environment based on past experience.” She also said, “Our findings mean to me that dogs have the biological capability of doing much more complex and flexible things with their lives than cats can.” Behaviors like this, I guess:

I’m kidding (you know I’m kidding, right?). We love dogs. We’re just not sure all that supposed brain power is doing dogs much good, at least in terms of their ability to live a civilized life. After all, while we cats play with our catnip mice and nap in our comfy beds, dogs are barking, drinking from the toilet, and rolling in the smelliest, most vile things they can find, after which they have to get a bath. Now I ask you, is that smart?

Dogs and cats are not the same

But what does 530 million cortical neurons vs. 250 million cortical neurons really mean? Well, we take it as further evidence that cats and dogs are not the same. Without descending into yet another argument over who’s better, who’s smarter, who’s more loyal, more loving, more comforting, more fun, more purry, more whatever-is-important-to-you, can we agree that cats are cats and dogs are dogs and they’re all great … just for being who and what they are?

Those  numbers of neurons tell us a lot, but they don't tell us everything. There are brilliant dogs and brilliant cats, and there are dumb dogs and (I hate to say it) dumb cats. There are also some pretty dumb people (despite their 16 billion cortical neurons), and there are plenty of people of average or above-average intelligence who (again despite all those neurons) get outsmarted every day by their cats and/or dogs. 

So go figure.

This all just goes to show that it's not how many neurons you have, it's what you do with them that counts.

Source

David Salisbury, “Sorry, Grumpy Cat—Study Finds Dogs Are Brainier Than Cats,” Research News @ Vanderbilt, November 29, 2017, https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2017/11/29/grumpy-cat-study-dogs/.

* The full article will appear soon in the open-access journal Frontiers in Neuroanatomy.

First Cat in Space to Get Well-Deserved Memorial

Not many people know that, before any human dared venture into space, a cat was sent to test things out. Now, this brave cat who did not have any say in whether she got sent into space may finally be getting a memorial.

The first and only feline in space

Félicette was a black-and-white tuxedo cat who was found living on the streets in Paris (or was purchased from a dealer; the accounts are apparently inconsistent) and, along with 13 other cats, was put into France’s space program. She went through training similar to what the human astronauts did, including being put in a compression chamber and in a centrifuge and going round and round and round. One thing that was done to the cats but not the humans was the implantation of electrodes in their brains to keep an eye on activity there.

The tuxie was selected to be “the one” either because she could remain calm in a crisis or because the other trainees got too plump.

And so, on October 18, 1963, Félicette was put into a capsule on a Véronique AG1 rocket. At 8:09 a.m., the rocket blasted off, and the cat was sent nearly 100 miles above Earth. She traveled at speeds reaching up to Mach 6 (which we are pretty sure makes her the fastest cat ever), and she pulled up to 9 g’s. Her non-orbital flight lasted 15 minutes, and she returned safely to Earth by parachuting down in her capsule.

Righting some wrongs with a crowdfunded memorial

We’ve already mentioned how Félicette did not get to decide whether she wanted to do all that she did. That’s the first wrong, in our opinion. The second wrong is that Félicette was euthanized three months after her flight so her brain implant could be tested some more. The third wrong is that not many people even know about Félicette, perhaps partly because she has never been memorialized (except on a postage stamp, where she was wrongly identified as “Felix”).

But now Félicette might be posthumously getting her due, as there is a Kickstarter campaign to create a bronze statue of her. The statue is to be created by sculptor Gill Parker and is expected to include a representation of Félicette and a rocket. When we checked, the campaign had raised just over $44,000. Its goal is $52,576, and the campaign ends TOMORROW, November 17, at 3:01 a.m. EST. That means you have very little time left if you wish to contribute and help send the campaign over the top. We pledged about $37 for the reward of two enamel badges and a replica postcard because we think it is important that this brave cat be recognized.

Click here to learn more about the campaign and to contribute!

Sources

“Félicette,” Wikipedia.

Hanneke Weitering, “FirstCat in Space to Receive a Proper Memorial,” Live Science, November 8, 2017

Words with Webster: Saturn’s Kittens, Plus Friendly Fill-Ins

We have two fun Friday features for you today. First up is Real Cat Webster, who has a spacey cat word to share. After that, it’s on to Friendly Fill-Ins!

Words with Webster

Hi, all! It’s me, Real Cat Webster. Welcome to Words with Me. Our word this week is kind of different. It’s “Saturn’s kittens.” Saturn is a big planet that is famous for its rings, and kittens are baby cats, so I bet you’re wondering how Saturn could have kittens, right? Well, it’s because scientists who study Saturn call a group of objects orbiting one of the planet’s rings “kittens.” They also give the individual objects kitten names, like Mittens. Cute, right? Especially when you consider that Mittens’s “official” name is “Alpha Leonis Rev 9.” Not cute at all.

Mittens is a moonlet (baby moon) that orbits Saturn’s F ring. Another moonlet orbiting this ring is named Sylvester. So far, at least 60 objects of varying sizes have been discovered orbiting the F ring, and they’re all named (unofficially) after cats. There’s Fluffy, Socks, Whiskers, Garfield.… You get the idea.

Saturn with the Cassini spacecraft in the upper
foreground and the moon Titan in the background. The
kittens would be too small to be visible in this artist's rendering.
Image via Adobe Stock.

Mittens and the other kittens form when particles in Saturn’s F ring collide and stick together, forming clumps that eventually get big enough to be given a kitten name. They were discovered thanks to the Cassini mission. Cassini “saw” them when a star passed behind one of the kittens, and the kitten blocked part of the star’s light. The kittens get their official, cumbersome names from these light-blocking events, which are called “stellar occultations” (no, this will not be on the final!).

A kitten, possibly named
Mittens, or perhaps
Alpha Leonis Rev 9?
Image via Adobe Stock.

Unfortunately, you should not get too attached to Saturn’s kittens, because with all those things banging into each other, they are sort of temporary. Even if one of Saturn’s kittens collects enough particles to grow bigger, seeing one of these objects is sort of a matter of chance, because the observing spacecraft has to be in the right place when the star passes behind the kitten … and oh, there’s no spacecraft out there anymore since the end of the Cassini mission on September 15, 2017.

I wanted to share Saturn’s kittens with you to remind you that cats show up in the darnedest places. Also, scientists can be a lot of fun.

You can learn more about Saturn’s kittens in the article “Cosmic Kittens: Saturn Features Get Feline Names” from Space.com.

Friendly Fill-Ins

And now it’s time for Friendly Fill-Ins, from 15andmeowing and McGuffy’s Reader. They are a fun way to learn a little bit about the authors of the blogs you read. The first two questions, answered by Old SoLT this week, are from Ellen of 15andmeowing, and the next two, answered by Real Cat Paisley, are from Annie of McGuffy’s Reader.

Old SoLT’s answers:

1. I am far too busy to have a life beyond my office. Between working, blogging, and writing books, it seems like I am here at the computer all day every day, and it is exhausting. I would really like to find time to go to the park before the current nice weather is over!

2. To save money, I don’t buy many things for myself. If I need something, I buy it, but if I just want something, I usually pass it up (except on vacation; I can be a spending fool on vacation!).

Real Cat Paisley’s answers:

3. Schedules matter(s). For example, it’s good for a cat to wake their person up early and on schedule every morning, even on weekends, and no matter how loudly the person protests. People need structure in their lives.

4. Our dog makes me think evolution took a seriously wrong turn somewhere.

Caturday Art: Paisley and the Eclipse

This week's Caturday Art was inspired by the Great American Eclipse that happened a couple weeks ago. Old SoLT had used a colander to see if the little bits of light coming through the holes would really be crescent-shaped (answer: yes!). While she was doing this, Real Cat Paisley got interested in  chasing the shadow on the floor. The photo old SoLT got looks like Paisley is observing the eclipse:

This used the Space effect in Lunapic, followed by the Glowing Edges filter in Photoshop, and then a Polaroid frame from PicMonkey.

And here's the original:

We are pleased to be joining the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by Athena and Marie.

Big Cat News Roundup: May 2017

We’ve recently received several news releases concerning our big-cat cousins. Each one could be its own post, but we thought we’d condense them all into one news roundup.

Sunda clouded leopard.
Photo by Spencer Wright, North Walsham, England [CC BY 2.0],
via Wikimedia Common

African lions, clouded leopards, and declining prey populations

 First, we learned that African lions and Sunda clouded leopards face the same threats that saber-toothed tigers faced. Researchers from several institutions looked into what caused the extinction of seven big cat species from the Ice Age and concluded that loss of prey was a major factor. They then looked at the prey species of modern big cats and discovered that the African lion and Sunda clouded leopard (found in Borneo and Sumatra) could be at risk. The researchers say that if prey species for these cats continue to decline, the cats could have “a high risk of extinction.”

A snow leopard in India's Hemis National Park.
Photo by Snow Leopard Conservancy/Jammu & Kashmir Wildlife
Protection Department [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Three subspecies of snow leopard identified

Next, we learned that 3 new subspecies of snow leopard have been identified. In the first-ever genetic analysis across the snow leopard’s range, researchers used the cats’ scat (i.e., poop) and identified three “genetic clusters.” They recognize these clusters as subspecies, each inhabiting its own geographic region. Understanding the subspecies populations can both help scientists understand the snow leopard’s evolution and ecology and provide information that can be used to improve the cats’ conservation.

Tree-climbing lions now have smaller prides, larger ranges

Finally, we learned that Uganda’s tree-climbing lions are roaming farther as their prey animals decrease. Scientists compared the home ranges of lion prides in Uganda’s Ishasha district from the 1970s and today. They discovered that the tree-climbing lions of today live in smaller prides with larger home ranges. This change has happened at the same time that the lions’ main prey species, the Ugandan kob, has declined. (We're sure you don't need us to point out how this bit of news relates to the first story we shared.)

Tree-climbing lions in Uganda's Ishasha district.
Photo by By Charlesjsharp, Sharp Photography [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Did Dental Disease Turn Tsavo Lions into Man-Eaters?

Warning: Today’s post has some rather gruesome parts to it, as we bring you the story of two of our wild cousins who were famous for all the wrong reasons. You’ve been warned.

The Tsavo man-eaters

 Every once in while, you hear of a “man-eating” lion, but why do some lions choose to hunt humans instead of the four-legged hoofed animals that are their usual prey? A new study recently published in Scientific Reports looked at “dental microwear” to see what they could learn about lions' eating behaviors from evidence left behind on their teeth. The work suggests that at least in some cases, the answer to "Why?" could be dental injury and disease.

The "Tsavo man-eaters" today, in a diorama at the Field Museum
in Chicago. The skins were sold to the museum for $5,000 some 25 years
after the lions' death.
By Superx308 Jeffrey Jung, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Two of the lions whose teeth were examined were the famous Tsavo man-eaters of 1898. These were maneless male lions that, according to the most spectacular estimate, killed up to 135 people. The actual number has been shown to be much lower, about 35 people, but that is still a lot. The victims were Indian members of a construction crew building a railroad bridge over the Tsavo River in Kenya. The terror at the railroad workers’ camp began in March 1898 when, shortly after their arrival, men started to go missing. Searches turned up mutilated bodies. Efforts to protect the camp with thorny barricades failed, as the lions found a way through the barriers. One worker wrote that the lions’

“very jaws were steeped in blood. Bones, flesh, skin and blood, they devoured all, and left not a trace behind them.”

Lieutenant Colonel J. H. Patterson, an engineer and leader of the expedition, wrote of hearing the cats crunching the bones of one of their victims, purring as they did so.

The first of the two Tsavo man-eating lions (FMNH 23970)
shot by Lieutenant Colonel Patterson, 1898.
 By Field Museum [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Patterson would eventually kill both of the lions, the first on December 9, 1898. That lion was over nine feet long from his nose to the tip of his tail, and it took eight men to carry him to the camp. The second lion, killed three weeks later, was of similar size. Both lions had injuries to their skin from the thorns that were used to try to protect the workers’ camp. Patterson kept the skins as trophy rugs for some 25 years, before selling them to the Field Museum in Chicago for $5,000. They were stuffed and placed on display, and they can still be seen there.

(The 1996 movie The Ghost and the Darkness, starring Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer, dramatized the events in the construction camp.)

What the teeth say

Although Patterson wrote of hearing the lions crunching their victims’ bones, the evidence left behind on the cats’ teeth tells a different story. The authors of the paper in Scientific Reports used something called dental microwear texture analysis to determine what the lions were eating. The results suggest that, in the period just before their death, the Tsavo man-eaters were not consuming the bones of their prey and were instead consuming only the softer tissues.

The second Tsavo lion shot by Lieutenant Colonel Patterson.
This lion is now known as FMNH 23969.
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The teeth also showed a possible reason the lions became man-eaters. One of the cats had a serious dental injury, a broken lower tooth, and the pain from that may have made it impossible for him to kill normal prey in the usual lion way, through suffocation. That could have prompted him to pass up his usual prey in favor of something softer, slower, and easier to catch, like people. The other lion also had dental injuries, but his were less severe. Interestingly, for the second lion, humans made up a smaller part of his diet than for the first lion—13% versus 30%. And those numbers, by the way, also show that humans still made up a relatively small part of both lions’ diets.

We think it’s worth noting that it seems that, even for the “man-eaters,” humans were not at the top of the menu. The lion with the severely injured tooth may have turned to the workers’ camp for prey because he was in too much pain to routinely catch and kill other prey. The second lion may have been a true copycat, learning from his companion how to take easy prey from the camp.

If you have about nine minutes, this video is well worth a look. It's from before the most recent paper was published, but you can see researcher Larisa DeSantis demonstrating how molds of the lions’ teeth were made. Interesting!

Sources

Larisa R. G. DeSantis and Bruce D. Patterson, “Dietary Behaviour of Man-Eating Lions as Revealed by Dental Microwear Textures,” Scientific Reports 7, April 19, 2017, doi:10.1038/s41598-017-00948-5, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-00948-5

J.H. Patterson, The Man-Eating Lions of Tsavo and Other East Africa Adventures, 1907.

Paul Raffaele, “Man-Eaters of Tsavo,” Smithsonian, January 2010, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/man-eaters-of-tsavo-11614317/

News: Having Cats Does Not Cause Mental Illness

Cats: lovely, friendly, and unlikely to make you psychotic.
Photo via Adobe Stock.

Last year, there were some brouhahas and kerfuffles over the subject of cats and mental illness. Specifically, research suggested that people who have cats are more likely than others to become psychotic because they are exposed to the parasite Toxoplasma gondii (see "Blaming Cats for Human Aggression"). But a new study has found no link between cat ownership and psychosis.

The new study was published in Psychological Medicine. It followed about 5,000 people from when they were born in 1991 or 1992 until they were 18. The researchers also had data on whether there were cats in the house during the subjects' childhood or while their mothers were pregnant with them. The study found no link between the presence of a cat and the development of psychosis. This study is considered more reliable than previous studies because it looked at a larger population over a longer period of time.

And the millions upon millions of people who have lived their whole lives with cats without becoming psychotic say, “We told you so.”

(Source: “Cat ownership not linked to mental health problems”)

Science Says Cats & Dogs Need Each Other to Scare Off Rodents

A recently published study suggests that it takes both dogs and cats
to keep rodents away.
Photo by Michael Pettigrew, via Adobe Stock.

Most of us think that having a cat around will keep mice and other vermin-style critters under control. But is that true? Until recently, no one could say for sure, as all we had to go on was anecdotal evidence—people say that having a cat will keep mice away, so we tend to believe it. Well, a study recently published in PLOS ONE concludes that cats alone have only a small effect on rodents. If you want mice and rats to avoid your homestead, the study says, you’d better have cats and dogs.

Hunting styles of cats and dogs

I know, it’s distressing, right? Cats have owned the trophy for vermin-killing for centuries, and now suddenly we might have to share it? Almost unthinkable!

But the study authors point out that cats and dogs have different hunting styles. Cats are solitary, ambush-style predators, whereas dogs hunt in packs in the wild and chase prey over long distances. Both cats and dogs are known to eat small mammals such as mice and rats, but dogs are more likely to feed on trash than on those tasty little creatures. (And here I shall refrain from making a rude comment about dirty, trash-eating dogs. Oops! That just slipped out. Sorry, dogs.)

Cats, dogs, and rodents on rural homesteads

That little dot inside the circle is where
Swaziland is. The study was carried
out on 40 rural homesteads there.
Map by Alvaro1984 18
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

The study was conducted in four villages in Swaziland (that’s in southeast Africa). Forty rural homesteads were selected: 10 homesteads with cats, 10 with dogs, 10 with both cats and dogs, and 10 with neither. Homesteads with domestic cats and/or dogs typically had one or two cats and between one and four dogs, all of which were free to roam around the buildings and fields.

The researchers needed a way to measure rodent activity at the different homesteads. They decided on white ceramic tiles that were blackened with soot. These tiles were set out at night, and when rodents walked on them, they left little footprints behind. The more footprints on a site’s tiles, the more rodent activity at that site.

White ceramic tiles were blackened with soot and
set on the ground overnight to measure rodent activity.

(a) tile blackened with soot; (b) marked with rodent footprints.

The more footprints, the more rodent activity.

Photo via PLOS ONE.

The results showed that homesteads with just cats or just dogs had less rodent activity compared to homesteads without cats or dogs. But—and this was shocking to me—the difference was not really significant. The places with greatly reduced rodent activity were homesteads with both cats and dogs. Perhaps, the authors suggest, when rodents come across a homestead with two different kinds of predator, they decide that place is just too dangerous. They would rather leave behind whatever food is there because there’s too great a chance that they will be eaten while they are eating. The cats and dogs together create a “landscape of fear” for the rodents.

We wonder if a similar study would produce the same results in, say, Nebraska. As a cat, it is embarrassing to think that we might need the help of dogs to give rodents a really good scare. One can only hope that future studies will show that it’s the cats who are doing all the real work, right?

  

Source

Mahlaba TAM, Monadjem A, McCleery R, Belmain SR (2017) Domestic cats and dogs create a landscape of fear for pest rodents around rural homesteads. PLoS ONE 12(2): e0171593. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0171593

Cats in Space: Cat’s Paw and Cat’s Eye Nebulas

People name all sorts of things after cats, and not all of those things are on Earth. At least two of those things are way out in space: the Cat’s Paw and Cat’s Eye Nebulas.

This image from the ESO’s Very Large Telescope Survey

Telescope shows the Cat’s Paw Nebula (NGC 6334) in the

upper right and the Lobster Nebula (NGC 6357) in the lower left.

Image credit: ESO.

Cat’s Paw Nebula (NGC6334)

Chart showing the constellation Scorpius,
with the Cat’s Paw and

Lobster Nebulas indicated with red circles.

Image credit: ESO/IAU and Sky & Telescope.

The Cat’s Paw Nebula is something called an emission nebula (basically, a big cloud of ionized gas that emits light). It is in the constellation Scorpius, near the tip of the tail. This nebula is 50 light-years across, and is about 5,500 light-years from Earth. It is what they call a “stellar nursery”—an area of active star formation. The Cat’s Paw Nebula could have tens of thousands of stars in it. The “toe beans” are actually gas being lit up by the newborn stars. Perhaps not as cute as your cat’s toe beans, but still pretty impressive!

This nebula was first spotted by British scientist John Herschel in June 1837. He didn’t call it the Cat’s Paw Nebula though, partially because the telescope he was using wasn’t powerful enough to show the full shape.

The Cat’s Paw Nebula came to my attention last week, when  the European Southern Observatory released a new, very large image of it. When I say large, I mean 2 billion pixels. That will not quite fit on this blog!

(By the way... don't tell the astronomers, but old SoLT thinks this nebula looks more like a mouse than a cat's paw. Go figure.)

Cat’s Eye Nebula

The Cat’s Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Draco. It is 3,300 light-years from Earth and was discovered by William Herschel in 1786. He called it a planetary nebula because it looked like a planet, but actually it is a shell of ionized gas ejected from an old star. The Cat’s Eye Nebula is one of the most structurally complex nebulas known. It is made up mostly of hydrogen and helium.

The Cat’s Eye Nebula, as seen by the

Hubble Space Telescope.

NASA/ESA, public domain, via WikimediaCommons.

You may be at least a little bit familiar with the Cat’s Eye Nebula from the spectacular images taken of it by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Watch this space

These two nebulas are not the only things out in space that have something to do with cats, so watch this space (pun intended; sorry, but old SoLT made me do it) for more cats in space!