TRAPPIST–South first light image of the Tarantula Nebula

This first light image of the TRAPPIST–South national telescope at La Silla shows the Tarantula Nebula, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) — one of the galaxies closest to us. Also known as 30 Doradus or NGC 2070, the nebula owes its name to the arrangement of bright patches that somewhat resembles the legs of a tarantula. Taking the name of one of the biggest spiders on Earth is very fitting in view of the gigantic proportions of this celestial nebula — it measures nearly 1000 light-years across! Its proximity, the favourable inclination of the LMC, and the absence of intervening dust make this nebula one of the best laboratories to help understand the formation of massive stars better. The image was made from data obtained through three filters (B, V and R) and the field of view is about 20 arcminutes across.

Bildnachweis:

TRAPPIST/E. Jehin/ESO

Über das Bild

ID:eso1023a
Typ:Beobachtung
Veröffentlichungsdatum:8. Juni 2010 12:00
Dazugehörige Veröffentlichungen:eso1023
Größe:2016 x 2038 px

Über das Objekt

Name:30 Doradus, NGC 2070, Tarantula Nebula
Typ:Local Universe : Nebula : Appearance : Emission : H II Region
Entfernung:170000 Lichtjahre
Constellation:Dorado
Kategorie:Nebulae

Bildformate

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1,7 MB

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Koordinaten

Position (RA):5 38 37.99
Position (Dec):-69° 5' 41.67"
Field of view:21.90 x 22.14 arcminutes
Orientierung:Die Nordrichtung liegt 2.3° links zur Vertikale