Portrait of a dramatic stellar crib

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One square degree image of the Tarantula Nebula and its surroundings. The spidery nebula is seen in the upper-center of the image. Slightly to the lower-right a web of filaments harbors the famous supernova SN 1987A (see below). Many other reddish ne ...
One square degree image of the Tarantula Nebula and its surroundings. The spidery nebula is seen in the upper-center of the image. Slightly to the lower-right, a web of filaments harbors the famous supernova SN 1987A (see below). Many other reddish nebulae are visible in the image, as well as a cluster of young stars on the left, known as NGC 2100. Credit: ESO

Known as the Tarantula Nebula for its spidery appearance, the 30 Doradus complex is a monstrous 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 (The Swordfish or the Goldfish). It is part of one of the Milky Way's neighbouring galaxies, the Large Magellanic Cloud.


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