Astronomy Picture of the Day -- The Cosmic Web of the Tarantula Nebula

NASA ^ | February 17, 2014 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

Explanation: It is the largest and most complex star forming region in the entire galactic neighborhood. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy orbiting our Milky Way galaxy, the region's spidery appearance is responsible for its popular name, the Tarantula nebula. This tarantula, however, is about 1,000 light-years across. Were it placed at the distance of Milky Way's Orion Nebula, only 1,500 light-years distant and the nearest stellar nursery to Earth, it would appear to cover about 30 degrees (60 full moons) on the sky. Intriguing details of the nebula are visible in the above image shown in near true colors. The spindly arms of the Tarantula nebula surround NGC 2070, a star cluster that contains some of the brightest, most massive stars known, visible in blue on the right. Since massive stars live fast and die young, it is not so surprising that the cosmic Tarantula also lies near the site of a close recent supernova.

[SunkenCiv]

[Credit & Copyright: Damian Peach]

[SunkenCiv]

The Big One

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Beautiful! :-)

[Telepathic Intruder]

This is actually the largest and brightest starburst region in the Local Group of galaxies. We’re basically seeing the birth of a huge globular cluster, and possibly the beginning of the LMC’s conversion to an elliptical galaxy.

[Vote 4 Nixon]

My kids and I made a trip down to Stephen C Foster state park this past Saturday night to see their astronomy presentation. It was fantastic. We were the first to arrive and we got about an hours worth of private instruction in before about a hundred tour groups showed up. My two boys learned all the in’s. And outs of operating an 8 and 10 dobsonian so when the newbies showed up they were the ones who had to get the scopes pointed to Jupiter and some of the other sights. They loved it. I figure that they learner more during that few hours just by hands on. I also set up my little Edmund scientific astroscan and man let me tell you. I was doing a fire sale business. Heck, a lot of those kids received their astronomy badges by looking through my little scope. I think they may also owe me a commission as I probably sold at least four or five for them. A lot of them said that my scope was the neatest thing they had ever seen. I just think it looks like a flower pot. To make a long story short, I was smitten with a 10 dobsonian that the park provided for our use. Do you think you could recommend a good dobsonian? Thanks.