Central region of the Tarantula Nebula - The Tarantula Nebula - The Tarantula Nebula (or...

Central region of the Tarantula Nebula - The Tarantula Nebula - The Tarantula Nebula (or 30 Dorada) is the largest star-forming region of the Magellan Cloud. It is located 170,000 light years ago in the constellation Dorado (southern hemisphere). At the center of this nebula, the open cluster of R136 stars, clusters of young, hot and massive stars, aged just 5 million years. Mosaic of 5 images obtained by the Hubble space telescope. Vast Star - Forming Region 30 Doradus Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope has snapped a panoramic portrait of a vast, sculpted landscape of gas and dust where thousands of stars are being born. This fertile star - forming region, called the 30 Doradus Nebula, has a sparkling stellar centerpiece: the most spectacular cluster of massive stars in our cosmic neighborhood of about 25 galaxies. The mosaic picture shows that ultraviolet radiation and high - speed material unleashed by the stars in the cluster, called R136, are weaving a tapestry of creation and destruction, triggering the collapse of looming gas and dust clouds and forming pillar - like structures that are incubators for nascent stars. The photo offers an unprecedented, detailed view of the entire inner region of 30 Doradus, measuring 200 light - years wide by 150 light - years high. The nebula resides in the Large Magellanic Cloud (a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way), 170,000 light - years from Earth. Nebulas like 30 Doradus are the “” signposts”” of recent star birth. High - energy ultraviolet radiation from the young, hot, massive stars in R136 causes the surrounding gaseous material to glow. Previous Hubble telescope observations showed that R136 contains several dozen of the most massive stars known, each about 100 times the mass of the Sun and about 10 times as hot. These stellar behemoths all formed at the same time about 2 million years ago. The stars in R136 are producing intense “” stellar winds”” (