Tarantula Nebula

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April 7, 1999

 

 

Denizen of the Tarantula Nebula

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

Explanation: The star cluster at lower right, cataloged as Hodge 301, is a

denizen of the Tarantula Nebula. An evocative nebula in the southern sky, the

sprawling cosmic Tarantula is an energetic star forming region some 168,000

light-years distant in our neighboring galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud. The

stars within Hodge 301 formed together tens of millions of years ago and as the

massive ones quickly exhaust their nuclear fuel they explode. In fact, the red

giant stars of Hodge 301 are rapidly approaching this violent final phase of

stellar evolution - known as a supernova. These supernova blasts send material

and shock waves back into the nebular gas to create the Tarantula's glowing

filaments also visible in this Hubble Space Telescope Heritage image. But these

spectacular stellar death explosions signal star birth as well, as the blast

waves condense gas and dust to ultimately form the next generation of stars

inside the Tarantula Nebula.

 

 

Tomorrow's picture: Lunarscape

 

 

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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)

NASA Technical Rep.: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.

A service of: LHEA at NASA/ GSFC

& Michigan Tech. U.