Press Releases 2006

ESO PR Photo 50a/06

The Tarantula Nebula (WFI/2.2m)

[Preview - JPEG: 455 x 400 pix - 244k]
[Normal - JPEG: 910 x 800 pix - 982k]
[HiRes - JPEG: 3412 x 3000 pix - 16M]
[HiRes - TIFF: 3412 x 3000 pix - 31M]
[Full Res - TIFF: 8952 x 7872 pix - 211M (HUGE!)]

Zoom-in on the image HERE!.

One square degree image of the Tarantula Nebula and its surroundings. The spidery nebula is seen in the upper-centre of the image. Slightly to the lower-right, a web of filaments harbours the famous supernova SN 1987A (see below). Many other reddish nebulae are visible in the image, as well as a cluster of young stars on the left, known as NGC 2100. Use the zoom-in feature to dive into this beautiful image.
Technical information: the image is based on observations carried out by Joõo Alves (Calar Alto, Spain), Benoit Vandame and Yuri Bialetski (ESO) with the Wide Field Imager (WFI) at the 2.2-m telescope on La Silla. These data consist of a 2x2 WFI mosaic in the B- and V-bands, and in the Hα and [OIII] narrow bands. The data were first processed with the ESO/MVM pipeline by the Advanced Data Products (ADP) group at ESO. The spectacular colour composite image resulting from these observations was made by Bob Fosbury (ST-ECF). Note that in order to make it easier to handle, the data were resampled to produce a final 64 million colour composite image. The reduced, full-size data are released as Advanced Data Products (ADP) by the Virtual Observatory Systems Department of ESO. More detail on how to access the data are available from the 30 Doradus ADP page.

ESO PR Video 50/06

Zoom-in on SN 1987A

[Quicktime - 352 x 288 pix - 27M]

1min17s long movie that zooms-in onto the supernova SN 1987A and the Honeycomb Nebula. The movie starts with a wide, photographic view of the Large Magellanic Cloud with the Tarantula Nebula hanging above, then fades into an image taken with the 1-m ESO Schmidt telescope and finally with the new WFI mosaic. After the zoom-in sequence, the video pans over the nebula then zoom-in again onto SN 1987A.

ESO PR Photo 50b/06

SN 1987A and the Honeycomb Nebula

[Preview - JPEG: 463 x 400 pix - 322k]
[Normal - JPEG: 833 x 720 pix - 759k]

The brightest supernova which has exploded in the current epoch is SN 1987A, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, at the edge of the Tarantula nebula. The explosion was seen on 23 February 1987 and since then the ejected material has created a set of ring structures. The outer ring is clearly visible in this image. In the lower part of the image, an amazing structure is seen: the Honeycomb Nebula.