A serene cosmic Tarantula is caught in a Hubble telescope photo

Astronomers working with the Hubble Space Telescope have published its new image. It shows a dusty but sparkling landscape in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

A site on the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula. Source: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray

The Large Magellanic Cloud is a dwarf galaxy located 160,000 light-years away from Earth. Although its mass is only 10% to 20% of that of the Milky Way, it can boast one of the largest regions of active star formation in the nearby Universe. It’s about the Tarantula Nebula.

The Tarantula Nebula is a giant cloud of ionized hydrogen whose extent exceeds a thousand light-years. It is home to some of the brightest and most massive luminaries known to science. Among them is the blue hypergiant R136a1, whose mass exceeds the solar mass by 200 times. In addition, the supernova SN 1987A erupted in 1987 at the edge of the nebula. It was the first supernova observed in the Earth’s sky with the naked eye in more than 300 years.

Not surprisingly, the Tarantula Nebula is the subject of active study by many observatories and telescopes, including Hubble. This time it captures a region on its outskirts. The photo shows serene blue gas clouds, brownish-orange dust spots, and a scattering of colorful stars. You can also see several dark streaks. They correspond to places where the dust is so dense that it completely blocks the light. The image combines data collected in the ultraviolet, near-infrared, and visible range.

Stars within and behind the dust clouds of the Tarantula Nebula appear redder than those not obscured by dust. The explanation is that dust absorbs and scatters blue light more strongly than red light. As a result, stars begin to appear redder than they really are. Astronomers are actively using Hubble to study dust grains in such regions to better understand the role they play in the formation of new stars and planets.

Earlier we reported on how Hubble photographed jets of newborn stars in the Orion Nebula.

According to Esahubble

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