A Hubble Space Telescope composite image of a portion of the Tarantula Nebula's central cavity illustrates the profound effect new stars can have on their environment. The young stars of 30 Doradus are acting something like cosmic, decidedly non-eco-friendly light bulbs. Each star cranks out a dazzlingly high wattage in the form of optical and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. That flood of UV light and the gusts of hot particles also flowing freely from these stars have hollowed out a bubble in the gaseous nebula.
While the nebula's gas and dust seem to have withered under that stellar glare, interesting features arise at the edges of the bubble. This exposed rim has been compressed into sharp ridges. Resembling the surface of a choppy ocean, these uneven edges curve, branch, and form awkward peaks that jut back into the bubble's punishing environment. Only with Hubble's exceptional resolution could the real intricacy and three-dimensionality of these features be revealed.
The high-resolution Hubble data have been combined with ground-based observations that trace hydrogen gas (in red) and oxygen (in blue). Together, this region can be appreciated as a microcosm of the larger nebula: a swirling palette of gas, dust, and stars in the midst of tumultuous upheaval.
Credits
NASA, ESA, ESO, D. Lennon (ESA/STScI), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Tarantula Nebula, 30 Doradus, 30 Dor, NGC 2070 |
| Object Description | Emission Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud |
| R.A. Position | 05h 38m 42.36s |
| Dec. Position | -69° 6' 3.24" |
| Constellation | Dorado |
| Distance | Approximately 170,000 light-years (52,000 parsecs) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | This image combines many exposures from the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) from the HST proposal : 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). |
| Instrument | HST>ACS/WFC, HST>WFC3/UVIS, and ESO 2.2m Telescope>WFI |
| Exposure Dates | October 2011 (HST), and January 2006 (ESO) |
| Filters | ACS/WFC and WFC3/UVIS: F775W (SDSS i) ESO: OIII/8 and H-alpha/7 |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | This image is a composite of many separate exposures made by the ACS and WFC3 instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope along with ESO 2.2m ground-based observations. In total, two filters were used to sample narrow wavelength emission and two filters were used to sample broadband wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are: Red: ESO H-alpha (656nm) Green: ESO average of H-alpha+[O III] Blue: ESO [O III] (502nm) Luminosity*: ACS/WFC F775W + WFC3/UVIS F775W * The higher-resolution, black & white Hubble image and the lower-resolution, color ESO images were combined using a technique that takes luminosity (brightness) information from the black and white ACS/WFC3 image and color information from the composite ESO image. This preserves all of the higher-resolution detail from the Hubble data while rendering a color image representing the physical processes in this active region of space. |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
