Homeless star in 30 Doradus (ground-based image): This is an image of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and its surroundings. The LMC is a satellite galaxy to our Milky Way system, located in the southern constellation of Dorado (the Swordfish) at a distance of approximately 170 000 light-years. Within this image is the runaway heavyweight star, called 30 Dor #016. It is 90 times more massive than the Sun and is travelling at more than 400 000 kilometres an hour from its home. The young star, only one million to two million years old, may have travelled about 375 light-years from its suspected home in bright star cluster R136. Nestled in the core of 30 Doradus, R136 is one of the most massive young star clusters in nearby galaxies, containing several stars topping 100 solar masses each. 30 Doradus, also called the Tarantula Nebula, resides roughly 170 000 light-years from Earth, in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The image was taken with the Wide Field Imager (WFI) camera on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory.

Name: 30 Doradus, R136, Tarantula Nebula
Type: Local Universe : StarLocal Universe : Nebula
Category: NebulaeStars
Constellation: Dorado
Distance: 170000 light years
Release date: 11 May 2010, 15:00
Credit: ESOAcknowledgments: J. Alves (Calar Alto, Spain), B. Vandame, and Y. Beletski (ESO)Processing by B. Fosbury (ST-ECF)

Massive star ejected from young star cluster (artist's impression): This illustration shows the heavy runaway star 30 Dor #016 rushing away from a nearby stellar nursery at more than 400 000 kilometres per hour. The runaway is the most extreme case of a very massive star that has been kicked out of its home by a group of even heftier siblings. Tantalizing clues from three observatories, including the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s newly installed Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), and some old-fashioned detective work, suggest that the star may have travelled about 375 light-years from its suspected home, a giant star cluster called R136.

Name: 30 Doradus
Type: Local Universe : StarLocal Universe : Star : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Star Clusters
Distance: 170000 light years
Release date: 11 May 2010, 15:00
Credit: Illustration Credit: NASA, ESA and A. Feild (STScI)Science Credit: NASA, ESA, C. Evans (Royal Observatory Edinburgh), N. Walborn (STScI) and ESO

Compass and scale image of 30 Doradus runaway star: In this image, an arrow points to a stellar runaway. The image was taken by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) aboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The heavyweight star, called 30 Dor #016, is 90 times more massive than the Sun and is travelling at more than 400 000 kilometres an hour from its home. The young star, only one million to two million years old, may have travelled about 375 light-years from its suspected home in star cluster R136.

Name: 30 Doradus, R136, Tarantula Nebula
Type: Solar System : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Young Stellar Object
Category: Solar SystemStars
Distance: 170000 light years
Release date: 11 May 2010, 15:00
Credit: Illustration Credit: NASA, ESA and Z. Levay (STScI)Science Credit: NASA, ESA, C. Evans (Royal Observatory Edinburgh), N. Walborn (STScI) and ESO

Hubble observations of massive stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud: This is the Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) observation of 30 Dor #016 compared with one by the Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) of the similar star HDE 269810, also in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The stellar-wind features of helium, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen are identified by their chemical symbols above; the roman numerals indicate the ionisation stages, i.e., the number of electrons removed plus one. (“I” would indicate the neutral atom.) The broad emission components plus blue-shifted absorption are diagnostics of the stellar winds; the absorption forms along the line of sight to the stellar disk, where the wind is approaching us at its full speed. The O V line is a unique feature of the hottest (O2-O3) stars.

Name: 30 Dor, Large Magellanic Cloud, STIS
Type: Local Universe : StarLocal Universe : Galaxy : Type : Irregular
Category: Stars
Distance: 170000 light years
Release date: 11 May 2010, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, C. Evans (Royal Observatory Edinburgh), N.Walborn (STScI) and D. Lennon (ESA/STScI)

The core of the massive compact star cluster in NGC 3603: The core of the star cluster in NGC 3603 is shown in great detail in an image from the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) camera on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The image is a colour composite of observations in the WFPC2 filters F555W (blue), F675W (green) and F814W (red). This view shows the second of two images taken ten years apart that were used to detect the motions of individual stars within the cluster for the first time. The field of view is about 20 arcseconds across.

Name: NGC 3603
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Open
Category: Star Clusters
Constellation: Carina
Distance: 20000 light years
Release date: 31 May 2010, 16:00
Credit: NASA, ESA and Wolfgang Brandner (MPIA), Boyke Rochau (MPIA) and Andrea Stolte (University of Cologne)

The massive compact star cluster in NGC 3603 and its surroundings: This view of the rich star formation region NGC 3603 and its massive compact central star cluster was taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The region that was studied in detail to detect the motion of stars within the cluster is shown as a box.

Name: NGC 3603
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Open
Category: Star Clusters
Constellation: Carina
Distance: 20000 light years
Release date: 31 May 2010, 16:00
Credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration

Hubble view of the huge star formation region N11 in the Large Magellanic Cloud: This broad vista of young stars and gas clouds in our neighbouring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, was captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). This region is named LHA 120-N 11, informally known as N11, and is one of the most active star formation regions in the nearby Universe. This picture is a mosaic of ACS data from five different positions and covers a region about six arcminutes across.

Name: LHA 120-N 11
Type: Local Universe : Nebula : Type : Star Formation
Category: NebulaeStar Clusters
Constellation: Dorado
Distance: 170000 light years
Release date: 22 June 2010, 11:00
Credit: NASA, ESA and Jesús Maíz Apellániz (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Spain)

Overview of the Large Magellanic Cloud (annotated): location of the new Hubble image of the star forming region LHA 120-N 11. This image was created from digitised photographs through red and blue filters. The field of view is about three degrees across.

Name: LHA 120-N 11, N11
Type: Local Universe : Nebula : Type : Star Formation
Category: Nebulae
Distance: 150000 light years
Release date: 22 June 2010, 11:00
Credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin

Overview of the Large Magellanic Cloud (ground-based image): This wide field view of part of the Large Magellanic Cloud includes the location of the N11 star formation region. This image was created from digitised photographs through red and blue filters. The field of view is about three degrees across.

Name: Large Magellanic Cloud, LHA 120-N 11B, N11
Type: Local Universe : Nebula : Type : Star FormationLocal Universe : Galaxy : Size : DwarfLocal Universe : Galaxy : Type : Irregular
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Dorado
Distance: 150000 light years
Release date: 17 January 2013, 12:00
Credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin