 thumb|350px|the brilliant stars in the tarantula nebula are unleashing a torrent of ultraviolet light and stellar winds that are etching away at the hydrogen gas cloud in which the stars were born. the tarantula nebula (also known as 30 doradus, or ngc 2070) is an h ii region in the large magellanic cloud (lmc). it was originally thought to be a star, but in 1751 nicolas louis de lacaille recognized its nebular nature. the tarantula nebula has an apparent magnitude of 8. considering its distance of about 49 kpc (160,000 light-years), this is an extremely luminous non-stellar object. its luminosity is so great that if it were as close to earth as the orion nebula, the tarantula nebula would cast shadows.http://www.noao.edu/news/2011/pr1102.php in fact, it is the most active starburst region known in the local group of galaxies. it is also one of the largest such region in the local group with an estimated diameter of 200 pc. the nebula resides on the leading edge of the lmc, where ram pressure stripping, and the compression of the interstellar medium likely resulting from this, is at a maximum. at its core lies the compact star cluster r136 (approximate diameter 35 light years){{cite journal | bibcode = 1998apj...493..180m | title = star formation in r136: a cluster of o3 stars revealed by hubble space telescope spectroscopy | date = january 1998 | journal = the astrophy
Caldwell_objects Dorado_(constellation) Flamsteed_objects H_II_regions Large_Magellanic_Cloud NGC_objects Tarantula_Nebula