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July 1, 2010 - The Tarantula Nebula Sending chills down the spine of all arachnophobes is the Tarantula Nebula in this image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Located in the southern constellation of Dorado, the Tarantula Nebula is a giant star forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Large Magellanic Cloud is an irregular dwarf galaxy that orbits the Milky Way. It is relatively close, in galactic terms, at about 160,000 light-years. Its motion around the Milky Way causes compression of interstellar dust and gas at is leading edge. This has led to the huge burst of star formation creating the Tarantula Nebula. At about 1,900 light-years across, the Tarantula Nebula is the largest star forming region known in the entire Local Group of galaxies, a region encompassing over 30 galaxies including the great galaxy in Andromeda. In 1987, the closest supernova observed since the invention of the telescope was seen at the edge of the Tarantula Nebula (SN1987A). It was determined to be the violent explosion of a very massive star. All four infrared detectors aboard WISE were used to make this mosaic. The image spans an area of 1.4 x 1.2 degrees on the sky or about 3 times as wide as the full Moon, and 2.5 times as high. Color is representational: blue and cyan represent infrared light at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns, which is dominated by light from stars. Green and red represent light at 12 and 22 microns, which is mostly light from warm dust.Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team |
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