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Tarantula Nebula (30 Doradus): A New View of the Tarantula Nebula
Tarantula Nebula
Tarantula Nebula
Tarantula Nebula
Visual Description:

  • A new composite of 30 Doradus (aka, the Tarantula Nebula) contains data from Chandra (blue), Hubble (green), and Spitzer (red).

  • 30 Doradus is one of the largest star-forming regions located close to the Milky Way.

  • This region contains thousands of young massive stars, making it an excellent place to study how stars are born.

To celebrate its 22nd anniversary in orbit, the Hubble Space Telescope has released a dramatic new image of the star-forming region 30 Doradus, also known as the Tarantula Nebula because its glowing filaments resemble spider legs. A new image from all three of NASA's Great Observatories - Chandra, Hubble, and Spitzer - has also been created to mark the event.

30 Doradus is located in the neighboring galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud, and is one of the largest star-forming regions located close to the Milky Way . At the center of 30 Doradus, thousands of massive stars are blowing off material and producing intense radiation along with powerful winds. The Chandra X-ray Observatory detects gas that has been heated to millions of degrees by these stellar winds and also by supernova explosions. These X-rays, colored blue in this composite image, come from shock fronts -- similar to sonic booms -- formed by this high-energy stellar activity.

The Hubble data in the composite image, colored green, reveals the light from these massive stars along with different stages of star birth including embryonic stars a few thousand years old still wrapped in cocoons of dark gas. Infrared emission from Spitzer, seen in red, shows cooler gas and dust that have giant bubbles carved into them. These bubbles are sculpted by the same searing radiation and strong winds that comes from the massive stars at the center of 30 Doradus.

Visual Description:

This is a composite image of the Tarantula Nebula that showcases the star-forming region located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The nebula's deep red and blue, and pale green and gold hues create a high contrast visual. A bright cluster of young stars are surrounded by a thick cloud of gas and dust, with a nebulous and spidery texture. At the center of 30 Doradus, thousands of massive stars are blowing off material and producing intense radiation along with powerful winds. The Chandra X-ray Observatory detects gas that has been heated to millions of degrees by these stellar winds and also by supernova explosions. These X-rays, colored blue in this composite image, come from shock fronts -- similar to sonic booms -- formed by this high-energy stellar activity. The Hubble data in the composite image, colored in a golden green, reveals the light from these massive stars along with different stages of star birth including embryonic stars a few thousand years old still wrapped in cocoons of dark gas. Infrared emission from Spitzer, colored in red, shows cooler gas and dust that have giant bubbles carved into them. These bubbles are sculpted by the same searing radiation and strong winds that come from the massive stars at the center of 30 Doradus.

 

Fast Facts for Tarantula Nebula:
Credit  X-ray: NASA/CXC/PSU/L.Townsley et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/JPL/PSU/L.Townsley et al.
Release Date  April 17, 2012
Scale  13 arcmin across (about 600 light years across)
Category  Normal Stars & Star Clusters
Coordinates (J2000)  RA 05h 38m 42.9s | Dec -69° 06' 3"
Constellation  Dorado
Observation Date  09/21/1999 - 01/30/2006
Observation Time  31 hours 40 min.
Obs. ID  22, 5906, 7263, 7264, 62520
Instrument  ACIS
Also Known As 30 Doradus
Color Code  X-ray (Blue); Infrared (Red); Optical (Green)
IR
Optical
X-ray
Distance Estimate  About 160,000 light years
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