Hubble Panoramic View of 30 Doradus, a Star-forming Region of the Tarantula Nebula
Posted on April 17, 2012
This stunning Hubble image provides a panoramic view of 30 Doradus, a star breeding ground located in the Tarantula nebula. The nebula resides 170 000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small, satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. The new image comprises one of the largest mosaics ever assembled from Hubble photos. You can see a larger version of the image here. A zoomable image is available here on hubblesite.org.
Take a look:
NASA says in a release that "Collectively, the stars in the image are millions of times more massive than our sun. The image is roughly 650 light-years across and contains some rambunctious stars, including one of the fastest rotating stars and the highest velocity stars ever observed by astronomers."
Photo: NASA, ESA, D. Lennon and E. Sabbi (ESA/STScI), J. Anderson, S. E. de Mink, R. van der Marel, T. Sohn, and N. Walborn (STScI), N. Bastian (Excellence Cluster, Munich), L. Bedin (INAF, Padua), E. Bressert (ESO), P. Crowther (University of Sheffield), A. de Koter (University of Amsterdam), C. Evans (UKATC/STFC, Edinburgh), A. Herrero (IAC, Tenerife), N. Langer (AifA, Bonn), I. Platais (JHU), and H. Sana (University of Amsterdam)