Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070, 30 Doradus)

Tarantula Nebula and close-up showing ejected star

The main image shows the Tarantula Nebula from which a massive star (center of inset image) appears to have been ejected by even more massive siblings. The pictures were captured by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope

The largest and brightest emission nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and one of the largest emission nebulae known. The Tarantula Nebula lies at the eastern end of the LMC's stellar bar. It was first cataloged as a star, 30 Doradus, then discovered to be a nebula by Nicolas Lacaille in 1751-52.

Also known as the Looped Nebula (a name that goes back to John Herschel), the Tarantula is roughly 100 times larger than the famous Orion Nebula but is illuminated in the same way: by the ultraviolet radiation from a collection of hot, young, massive stars embedded within it. Several OB associations have been observed inside the Tarantula, including the extremely luminous and compact cluster R136 near its center; it is a hotbed of Wolf-Rayet stars. Supernova 1987A occurred in an outlying part of the Tarantula – a harbinger of what lies in store for many of the Nebula's stars.

visual magnitude	8
apparent size	40' × 25'
diameter	900 light-years, with faint extensions out to 6,000 light-years
mass	~ 500,000 M_sun
position	R.A. 05h 38.7m, Dec. -69° 06'

Related category

• NEBULAE AND STAR CLUSTERS

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