Around the Tarantula nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud
author: S.Guisard/Novapix
reference: a-neb20-70015
Image Size 300 DPI: 33 * 21 cm
The largest emission nebula in the sky, the Tarantula Nebula (also known as NGC 2070 or 30 Doradus ) is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) , one of the satellite galaxies to our own Milky Way system. Seen far down in the southern sky at a distance of about 170,000 light-years, this beautiful nebula measures more than 1000 light-years across and extends over more than one third of a degree, almost, but not quite the size of the full moon. It received its descriptive name because of the unusual shape.