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> Around the Tarantula nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud
Around the Tarantula nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud
author: Anglo-Australian Observatory/David Malin Images/Novapix
reference: a-neb20-70009
Image Size 300 DPI: 51 * 40 cm
In this picture we see the eastern end of the Large Magellanic Cloud where lies one of the most active star formation regions known. If this enormous complex of stars, gas and dust were at the distance of the better-known Orion Nebula the brightest parts of it would visible during the day and would cover a quarter of the sky at night.
While the Orion Nebula contains a mere handful of the hot blue stars which energise it, the Tarantula nebula has spawned many thousands in the bright central region, which surrounds a compact, brilliant cluster known as 30 Doradus. Like the Orion Nebula, the 30 Doradus region is a naked eye object for the keen sighted. It is however over one hundred times more distant! Surrounding this nebula is a huge and much fainter series of interlocking bubbles and shells of gas and dust blow away from the center of activity by intense stellar winds and supernova explosions.
While the Orion Nebula contains a mere handful of the hot blue stars which energise it, the Tarantula nebula has spawned many thousands in the bright central region, which surrounds a compact, brilliant cluster known as 30 Doradus. Like the Orion Nebula, the 30 Doradus region is a naked eye object for the keen sighted. It is however over one hundred times more distant! Surrounding this nebula is a huge and much fainter series of interlocking bubbles and shells of gas and dust blow away from the center of activity by intense stellar winds and supernova explosions.
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