Cosmic spider: the Tarantula Nebula

Three-colour image of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The image is based on observations made on 10 February 2002 and 22 March 2003 with the FORS1 multi-mode instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope in three different narrow-band filters (centred on 485 nm, 503 nm, and 657 nm), for a total exposure time slightly above 3 minutes only. The data were extracted from the ESO Science Archive and processed by Henri Boffin (ESO).

Credit:

ESO

About the Image

Id:eso0613a
Type:Observation
Release date:7 April 2006
Related releases:eso0613
Size:2046 x 2042 px

About the Object

Name:30 Doradus, Large Magellanic Cloud, LMC, NGC 2070, Tarantula Nebula
Type:Local Universe : Nebula
Distance:170000 light years
Constellation:Dorado
Category:Nebulae

Image Formats

Large JPEG
2.1 MB
Screensize JPEG
426.4 KB

Wallpapers

1024x768
446.2 KB
1280x1024
723.0 KB
1600x1200
1.1 MB
1920x1200
1.3 MB
2048x1536
1.9 MB

Coordinates

Position (RA):5 38 37.99
Position (Dec):-69° 5' 41.67"
Field of view:6.78 x 6.77 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.1° left of vertical

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Optical
B
485 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS1
Optical
V
503 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS1
Optical
R
657 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS1