page_title: Tarantula Nebula
hierarchical_section_title: Tarantula Nebula
caption_attribution_description: English: This first light image of the TRAPPIST national telescope at La Silla shows the Tarantula Nebula, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) — one of the galaxies closest to us. Also known as 30 Doradus or NGC 2070, the nebula owes its name to the arrangement of bright patches that somewhat resembles the legs of a tarantula. Taking the name of one of the biggest spiders on Earth is very fitting in view of the gigantic proportions of this celestial nebula — it measures nearly 1000 light-years across! Its proximity, the favourable inclination of the LMC, and the absence of intervening dust make this nebula one of the best laboratories to help understand the formation of massive stars better. The image was made from data obtained through three filters (B, V and R) and the field of view is about 20 arcminutes across.
context_page_description: The Tarantula Nebula is an H II region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, from the solar system's perspective forming its south-east corner.
context_section_description: The Tarantula Nebula (also known as 30 Doradus) is an H II region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), from the solar system's perspective forming its south-east corner.
caption: The Tarantula Nebula, first light image of the TRAPPIST national telescope at La Silla Observatory 
  Credit: TRAPPIST/E. Jehin/ESO
exif: {}