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> Around the Tarantula nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud
Around the Tarantula nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud
author: ESO/Novapix
reference: a-neb20-70011
Image Size 300 DPI: 66 * 66 cm
Image of the Tarantula Nebula and its surroundings, made with ESO's Wide Field Imager on the 2.2-m ESO/MPG Telescope at La Silla. This image covers 1 square degree on the sky and could therefore contain four times the full Moon. Known as the Tarantula Nebula for its spidery appearance, the 30 Doradus complex is a monstrous stellar factory. It is the largest emission nebula in the sky, and can be seen far down in the southern sky at a distance of about 170,000 light-years, in the southern constellation Dorado (The Swordfish or the Goldfish). It is part of one of the Milky Way's neighbouring galaxies, the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Tarantula Nebula is thought to contain more than half a million times the mass of the Sun in gas and this vast, blazing labyrinth hosts some of the most massive stars known.
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