New Views of The Tarantula Nebula | James Webb Space Telescope

New Views of The Tarantula Nebula | James Webb Space Telescope

The Tarantula Nebula, also known as 30 Doradus, is more than a thousand light-years in diameter, a giant star forming region within nearby satellite galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud. About 180 thousand light-years away, it is the largest, most violent star forming region known in the whole Local Group of galaxies. The cosmic arachnid sprawls across this magnificent view, an assembly of image data from large space- and ground-based telescopes. Within the Tarantula (NGC 2070), intense radiation, stellar winds, and supernova shocks from the central young cluster of massive stars cataloged as R136 energize the nebular glow and shape the spidery filaments. 

Around the Tarantula are other star forming regions with young star clusters, filaments, and blown-out bubble-shaped clouds. If the Tarantula Nebula was closer, say 1,500 light-years distant like the Milky Way's own star forming Orion Nebula, it would take up half the sky.

Image Credit & Copyright: Processing Roberto Colombari

Data - Hubble Tarantula Treasury, European Southern Observatory, James Webb Space Telescope, Amateur Sources

Release Date: September 16, 2022

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Multiple generations of Stars in The Tarantula Nebula | Hubble

Multiple Generations of Stars in The Tarantula Nebula | Hubble

The star cluster Hodge 301 is an old cluster. Many of its stars have already exploded as supernovae. The filaments in the upper left corner have been compressed by the explosions of these stars. Elsewhere in the picture news stars are being born.

In the most active starburst region in the local universe lies a cluster of brilliant, massive stars, known to astronomers as Hodge 301.

Hodge 301, seen in the lower right hand corner of this image, lives inside the Tarantula Nebula in our galactic neighbor, the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Distance: 170,000 light years

Credit: Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI/NASA/ESA)

Release Date: April 1, 1999

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #R136 #30Doradus #TarantulaNebula #StarCluster #Hodge301 #Dorado #Constellation #LMC #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

30 Doradus Nebula in Infrared | Hubble

30 Doradus Nebula in Infrared | Hubble

This image is the most detailed view of the largest stellar nursery in our local galactic neighborhood. The stellar grouping, called R136, is only a few million years old and resides in the 30 Doradus Nebula, a turbulent star-birth region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. There is no known star-forming region in our galaxy as large or as prolific as 30 Doradus. Many of the diamond-like stars are among the most massive stars known. Several of them are over 100 times more massive than our Sun.

Distance: 170,000 light years

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), F. Paresce (INAF-IASF, Bologna, Italy), R. O'Connell (University of Virginia, Charlottesville), and the Wide Field Camera 3 Science Oversight Committee

Release Date: December 15, 2009

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #R136 #30Doradus #Infrared #TarantulaNebula #Dorado #Constellation #LMC #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

30 Doradus Nebula in Ultraviolet, Visible, and Red Light | Hubble

30 Doradus Nebula in Ultraviolet, Visible, and Red Light | Hubble

This image of hundreds of brilliant blue stars wreathed by warm glowing clouds is the most detailed view of the largest stellar nursery in our local galactic neighborhood. The stellar grouping, called R136, is only a few million years old and resides in the 30 Doradus Nebula, a turbulent star-birth region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. There is no known star-forming region in our galaxy as large or as prolific as 30 Doradus. Many of the diamond-like icy blue stars are among the most massive stars known. Several of them are over 100 times more massive than our Sun.

Distance: 170,000 light years

The image, taken in ultraviolet, visible, and red light by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3, spans about 100 light-years. The nebula is close enough to Earth that Hubble can resolve individual stars, giving astronomers important information about the birth and evolution of stars in the universe.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), F. Paresce (INAF-IASF, Bologna, Italy), R. O'Connell (University of Virginia, Charlottesville), and the Wide Field Camera 3 Science Oversight Committee

Release Date: December 15, 2009

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #R136 #30Doradus #TarantulaNebula #Dorado #Constellation #LMC #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Celestial Fireworks: Supernova Remnant DEM L 190 | Hubble

Celestial Fireworks: Supernova Remnant DEM L 190 | Hubble

Resembling the puffs of smoke and sparks from a summer fireworksdisplay in this image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope, these delicate filaments are actually sheets of debris from a stellar explosion in a neighboring galaxy. Hubble's target was a supernova remnant within the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a nearby, small companion galaxy to the Milky Way visible from the southern hemisphere.

Distance: 170,000 light years

Denoted N 49, or DEM L 190, this remnant is from a massive star that died in a supernova blast whose light would have reached Earth thousands of years ago. This filamentary material will eventually be recycled into building new generations of stars in the LMC. Our own Sun and planets are constructed from similar debris of supernovae that exploded in the Milky Way billions of years ago.

Credit: NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Release Date: July 3, 2003

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Star #WhiteDwarfStar #Supernova #SupernovaRemnant #Nebula #DEML190 #Dorado #Constellation #LMC #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Stellar Shrapnel: Supernova Remnant DEM L71 | Hubble

Stellar Shrapnel: Supernova Remnant DEM L71 | Hubble

Several thousand years ago, a star some 160,000 light-years away from us exploded, scattering stellar shrapnel across the sky. The aftermath of this energetic detonation is shown here in this striking image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3.

The exploding star was a white dwarf located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of our nearest neighboring galaxies. Around 97% of stars within the Milky Way that are between a tenth and eight times the mass of the Sun are expected to end up as white dwarfs. These stars can face a number of different fates, one of which is to explode as supernovae, some of the brightest events ever observed in the Universe. If a white dwarf is part of a binary star system, it can siphon material from a close companion. After gobbling up more than it can handle—and swelling to approximately one and a half times the size of the Sun—the star becomes unstable and ignites as a Type Ia supernova.

This was the case for the supernova remnant pictured here, which is known as DEM L71. It formed when a white dwarf reached the end of its life and ripped itself apart, ejecting a superheated cloud of debris in the process. Slamming into the surrounding interstellar gas, this stellar shrapnel gradually diffused into the separate fiery filaments of material seen scattered across this skyscape.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, Y. Chu

Release Date: August 15, 2016

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Star #WhiteDwarfStar #Supernova #SupernovaRemnant #Nebula #DEML71 #Dorado #Constellation #LMC #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Peeking inside a Stellar Cloud | Hubble

Peeking inside a Stellar Cloud | Hubble

These bright stars shining through what looks like a haze in the night sky are part of a young stellar grouping in one of the largest known star formation regions of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a dwarf satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The image was captured by the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2.

The stellar grouping is known to stargazers as NGC 2040 or LH 88. It is essentially a very loose star cluster whose stars have a common origin and are drifting together through space. There are three different types of stellar associations defined by their stellar properties. NGC 2040 is an OB association, a grouping that usually contains 10–100 stars of type O and B—these are high-mass stars that have short but brilliant lives. It is thought that most of the stars in the Milky Way were born in OB associations.

There are several such groupings of stars in the LMC. Just like the others, LH 88 consists of several high-mass young stars in a large nebula of partially ionized hydrogen gas, and lies in what is known to be a supergiant shell of gas called LMC 4.

Over a period of several million years, thousands of stars may form in these supergiant shells, which are the largest interstellar structures in galaxies. The shells themselves are believed to have been created by strong stellar winds and clustered supernova explosions of massive stars that blow away surrounding dust and gas, and in turn trigger further episodes of star formation.

The LMC is the third closest galaxy to our Milky Way. It is located some 160,000 light-years away, and is about 100 times smaller than our own.

This image, which shows ultraviolet, visible and infrared light, covers a field of view of approximately 1.8 by 1.8 arcminutes.

A version of this image was entered into the Hubble’s Hidden Treasures Image Processing Competition by contestant Eedresha Sturdivant. Hidden Treasures is an initiative to invite astronomy enthusiasts to search the Hubble archive for stunning images that have never been seen by the general public.

Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA and D. A Gouliermis

Acknowledgement: Eedresha Sturdivant

Release Date: April 16, 2012

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #NGC2040 #LH88 #Dorado #Constellation #LMC #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Large and Small Stars in Harmonious Coexistence | Hubble

Large and Small Stars in Harmonious Coexistence | Hubble

This image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows a star forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). This sharp image reveals a large number of low-mass infant stars coexisting with young massive stars.

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), European Space Agency (ESA)

Release Date: August 14, 2006

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #LH95 #Dorado #Constellation #LMC #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

The Large Magellanic Cloud

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)

This ground-based image of the Large Magellanic Cloud was taken by the German astrophotographer Eckhard Slawik. It spans 10 x 10 degrees. Just to the left of the middle of this image the largest star-forming region in the Local Group of galaxies, 30 Doradus, is seen as a red patch. N11B itself is seen in the upper right part of the LMC.

Credit: Eckhard Slawik

Release Date: July 1, 2004

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #N11B #PapillonNebula #Dorado #Constellation #LMC #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #STEM #Education

Overview of The Large Magellanic Cloud (ground-based image)

Overview of The Large Magellanic Cloud (ground-based image)

This wide field view of part of the Large Magellanic Cloud includes the location of the N11 star formation region. This image was created from digitized photographs through red and blue filters. The field of view is about three degrees across.

Distance: 150,000 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Digitized Sky Survey 2

Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin

Release Date: January 17, 2013

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #N11B #Dorado #Constellation #LMC #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Imagery Sources: Zooming on Star Formation Region N11B (Large Magellanic Cloud)

Imagery Sources: Zoom on Star Formation Region N11B ( Large Magellanic Cloud)

Hubble observes the constellation Dorado and we zoom on the Large Magellanic Cloud (LM). We fade to Eckhard Slawik's ground-based image of the LMC and then fade to the Digitized Sky Survey 2 image of N11, and finally fade to the Hubble Space Telescope image of N11B.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)

Duration: 38 seconds

Release Date: February 16, 2016

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #N11B #Dorado #Constellation #LMC #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #SD #Video

Into the Storm: Stellar Nursery N159 in The Large Magellanic Cloud | Hubble

Into the Storm: Stellar Nursery N159 in The Large Magellanic Cloud | Hubble

This shot from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope shows a maelstrom of glowing gas and dark dust within one of the Milky Way’s satellite galaxies, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC).

This stormy scene shows a stellar nursery known as N159, an HII region over 150 light-years across. N159 contains many hot young stars. These stars are emitting intense ultraviolet light, which causes nearby hydrogen gas to glow, and torrential stellar winds, which are carving out ridges, arcs, and filaments from the surrounding material.

At the heart of this cosmic cloud lies the Papillon Nebula, a butterfly-shaped region of nebulosity. This small, dense object is classified as a High-Excitation Blob, and is thought to be tightly linked to the early stages of massive star formation.

N159 is located over 160,000 light-years away. It resides just south of the Tarantula Nebula (heic1402), another massive star-forming complex within the LMC. It was previously imaged by Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, which also resolved the Papillon Nebula for the first time.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA

Release Date: September 5, 2016

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #N11B #PapillonNebula #Dorado #Constellation #LMC #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Location of Star Formation Region N11B in The Large Magellanic Cloud | NASA

Location of Star Formation Region N11B in The Large Magellanic Cloud | NASA

This panel is composed of three images of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) with increasing magnification. To the upper left is a ground-based image take by the German astrophotographer Eckhard Slawik. It spans 10 x 10 degrees. Just to the left of the middle of this image the largest star-forming region in the Local Group of galaxies, 30 Doradus, is seen as a red patch. N11B itself is seen in the upper right part of the LMC. The rectangle indicates the field of the Digitized Sky Survey 2 image.

To the upper right is a ground-based image zoomed closer on N11B in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The image spans a square of one degree and was constructed from two images from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 taken through infrared and red filters (shown as blue and red respectively). The frame indicates the field of Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 seen at the bottom of the panel.

Distance: ~160,000 light-year

Credit: NASA/European Space Agency (ESA), the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI)/HEIC, Eckhard Slawik and Digitized Sky Survey 2

Release Date: July 1, 2004

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #N11B #Dorado #Constellation #LMC #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #Infographic #STEM #Education

3D Animation: Star Formation Region N11B in The Large Magellanic Cloud | Hubble

3D Animation: Star Formation Region N11B in The Large Magellanic Cloud | Hubble

3D animation showing motion of the nebula N11B.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)

Duration: 20 seconds

Release Date: February 16, 2016

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #N11B #Dorado #Constellation #LMC #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #Animation #3D #HD #Video

NASA Astronaut Michael E. López-Alegría | Space Shuttle Flight STS-92

NASA Astronaut Michael E. López-Alegría | Space Shuttle Flight STS-92

Astronaut Michael E. López-Alegría, mission specialist, is photographed in this close-up view during one of the STS-92 spacewalks on Oct. 18, 2000. During his NASA career, López-Alegría logged more than 257 days in space and performed 10 spacewalks totaling 67 hours and 40 minutes. He flew on the STS-73, STS-92 and STS-113 space shuttle missions and spent seven months on the International Space Station (ISS) as commander of Expedition 14. In 2022, he served as commander of Axiom Mission 1, the first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. 

López-Alegría holds the record for the most extravehicular activities (spacewalks) ever performed, at 10 different excursions. His various NASA achievements earned him an induction in the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2020.

López-Alegría is a former president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, a former member of the Human Exploration and Operations Committee of the NASA Advisory Council, and former part of the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Another of his many affiliations is past president of the Association of Space Explorers USA.

Throughout National Hispanic Heritage Month, the contributions of the brilliant Hispanic people of NASA are being celebrated.

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Date: October 18, 2000

Release Date: September 15, 2022

#NASA #Space #SpaceShuttle #STS92 #ISS #Axiom #AxiomSpace #Ax1 #SpaceX #CrewDragon #Spacecraft #Astronauts #MichaelLópezAlegría #EVA #Spacewalk #Spain #Espana #UniedStates #HispanicAmerican #HumanSpaceflight #History #STEM #Education

Panning on Star Formation Region N11B in The Large Magellanic Cloud | Hubble

Panning on Star Formation Region N11B in The Large Magellanic Cloud | Hubble

While the camera moves along the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image, the full beauty of this star-forming region is revealed.

Distance: ~160,000 light-year

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)

Release Date: February 16, 2016

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #N11B #Dorado #Constellation #LMC #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #SD #Video