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> The Tarantula Nebula, around the 30 Dor cluster
The Tarantula Nebula, around the 30 Dor cluster
author: Anglo-Australian Observatory/David Malin Images/Novapix
reference: a-neb20-70007
Image Size 300 DPI: 40 * 51 cm
This object is the only extra-galactic nebula which can be seen with the unaided eye. It is a faint patch of light at the eastern end of the Large Magellanic Cloud, 170,000 light years distant. A small telescope reveals narrow spindly tendrils of glowing gas which have been likened to the legs of a spider. The 'body' of the spider is the bright nebula seen at the centre of the photograph, while at its core is an extremely dense clump of very hot stars, until recently thought to a single, unusually massive star known as 30 Doradus. The very hot stars of 30 Dor are responsible for making the nebula visible.
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