Extracts from the VISTA Magellanic Cloud Survey view of the Tarantula Nebula

This composite image shows extracts from a near-infrared VISTA image of the spectacular 30 Doradus star-forming region, also called the Tarantula Nebula. This infrared image, made with ESO’s VISTA survey telescope, is from the VISTA Magellanic Cloud Survey. The project will scan a vast area — 184 square degrees of the sky (corresponding to almost one thousand times the apparent area of the full Moon), including our nearby neighbouring galaxies the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.