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Tarantula Nebula: 30 Doradus and The Growing Tarantula Within
Tarantula Nebula
Tarantula Nebula

  • 30 Doradus is a large region where stars are forming.

  • Found in the neighboring Large Magellanic Cloud, it is relatively very close to Earth.

  • Giant stars are producing intense radiation and powerful winds that blow off material.

  • This produces superheated gas that Chandra sees in X-ray light (blue).

The star-forming region, 30 Doradus, is one of the largest located close to the Milky Way and is found in the neighboring galaxy Large Magellanic Cloud. About 2,400 massive stars in the center of 30 Doradus, also known as the Tarantula Nebula, are producing intense radiation and powerful winds as they blow off material.

Multimillion-degree gas detected in X-rays (blue) by the Chandra X-ray Observatory comes from shock fronts -- similar to sonic booms --formed by these stellar winds and by supernova explosions. This hot gas carves out gigantic bubbles in the surrounding cooler gas and dust shown here in infrared emission from the Spitzer Space Telescope (orange).

30 Doradus is also known as an HII (pronounced "H-two") region, created when the radiation from hot, young stars strips away the electrons from neutral hydrogen atoms (HI) to form clouds of ionized hydrogen (HII). It is the most massive and largest HII region in the Local Group of galaxies, which contains the Milky Way, Andromeda and about 30 other smaller galaxies including the two Magellanic Clouds. Because of its proximity and size, 30 Doradus is an excellent target for studying the effects of massive stars on the evolution of an HII region.

The Tarantula Nebula is expanding, and researchers have recently published two studies that attempt to determine what drives this growth. The most recent study concluded that the evolution and the large-scale structure of 30 Doradus is determined by the bubbles of hot, X-ray bright gas confined by surrounding gas, and that pressure from radiation generated by massive stars does not currently play an important role in shaping the overall structure. A study published earlier in 2011 came to the opposite conclusion and argued that radiation pressure is more important than pressure from hot gas in driving the evolution of 30 Doradus, especially in the central regions near the massive stars. More detailed analysis and deeper Chandra observations of 30 Doradus may help decide between these different ideas.

Fast Facts for Tarantula Nebula:
Credit  X-ray: NASA/CXC/PSU/L.Townsley et al.; Infrared: NASA/JPL/PSU/L.Townsley et al.
Release Date  November 10, 2011
Scale  24 arcmin across (about 1100 light years across)
Category  Normal Stars & Star Clusters
Coordinates (J2000)  RA 05h 38m 42.9s | Dec -69° 06' 3"
Constellation  Dorado
Observation Date  21 Sep 1999 - 30 Jan 2006
Observation Time  31 hours 40 min
Obs. ID  22, 5906, 7263, 7264, 62520
Instrument  ACIS
Also Known As 30 Doradus
Color Code  X-ray (Blue); Infrared (Red, Green, Blue)
IR
X-ray
Distance Estimate  About 160,000 light years
distance arrow
Visitor Comments (5)

Nice, very nice

Posted by haber on Monday, 02.20.12 @ 06:28am


Nice photo! Congratulations!!!!
I read all your emails and enjoy the pictures you take. It is wonderful.

Posted by Federico Talento Lane on Saturday, 11.12.11 @ 08:23am


I am seeing and learning without owning a telescope -just fantastic

Posted by sirius1 on Saturday, 11.12.11 @ 07:48am


Several million degrees! Makes you realize how amazing we have it here on Earth compared with the extreme violence of much of the Universe...

Posted by Anthony Hunt on Friday, 11.11.11 @ 03:59am


I appreciate all of what you are doing to bring this to us. this is fascinating. thank you

Posted by teri davenport on Thursday, 11.10.11 @ 15:46pm


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