images

Tarantula nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud

by

R.Gendler/Nasa/ESA/ESO/Novapix

Reference

a-neb20-70023

Date

2018-05-12

Known as the Tarantula Nebula for its spidery appearance, the 30 Doradus complex is a huge stellar factory. It is the largest emission nebula in the sky, and can be seen far down in the southern sky at a distance of about 170,000 light-years, in the southern constellation Dorado. It is part of one of the Milky Way's neighbouring galaxies, the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Tarantula Nebula is thought to contain more than half a million times the mass of the Sun in gas and this vast, blazing labyrinth hosts some of the most massive stars known.