The Tarantula Nebula

Located inside the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) – one of our closest galaxies – in what some describe as a frightening sight, the Tarantula nebula is worth looking at in detail. Also known as 30 Doradus or NGC 2070, the nebula owes its name to the arrangement of its bright patches that somewhat resemble the legs of a tarantula. Taking the name of one of the biggest spiders on Earth is very fitting in view of the gigantic proportions of this celestial nebula — it measures nearly 1,000 light years across ! Its proximity, the favourable inclination of the LMC, and the absence of intervening dust make this nebula one of the best laboratories to better understand the formation of massive stars. This spectacular nebula is energised by an exceptionally high concentration of massive stars, often referred to as super star clusters. This image is based on data acquired with the 1.5 m Danish telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory in Chile, through three filters (B: 80 s, V: 60 s, R: 50 s).

Crédit:

ESO/IDA/Danish 1.5 m/R. Gendler, C. C. Thöne, C. Féron, and J.-E. Ovaldsen

À propos de l'image

Identification:tarantula
Type:Observation
Date de publication:3 décembre 2009 23:19
Taille:2037 x 2077 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:30 Doradus, Large Magellanic Cloud, LMC, NGC 2070, Tarantula Nebula
Type:Local Universe : Nebula
Distance:170000 années lumière
Constellation:Dorado
Catégorie:Nebulae

Image Formats

Grand JPEG
1,9 Mio
JPEG taille écran
502,9 Kio

Fonds d'écran

1024x768
451,7 Kio
1280x1024
687,8 Kio
1600x1200
942,1 Kio
1920x1200
1,1 Mio
2048x1536
1,4 Mio

Coordinates

Position (RA):5 38 42.61
Position (Dec):-69° 6' 3.89"
Field of view:13.43 x 13.70 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 134.7° right of vertical

Couleurs & filtres

DomaineTélescope
Visible
B
Danish 1.54-metre telescope
Visible
V
Danish 1.54-metre telescope
Visible
R
Danish 1.54-metre telescope