Images by Date
Images by Category
Solar System
Stars
Exoplanets
White Dwarfs
Supernovas
Neutron Stars
Black Holes
Milky Way Galaxy
Normal Galaxies
Quasars
Galaxy Clusters
Cosmology/Deep Field
Miscellaneous
Images by Interest
Space Scoop for Kids
4K JPG
Multiwavelength
Sky Map
Constellations
Photo Blog
Top Rated Images
Image Handouts
Desktops
Fits Files
Image Tutorials
Photo Album Tutorial
False Color
Cosmic Distance
Look-Back Time
Scale & Distance
Angular Measurement
Images & Processing
AVM/Metadata
Image Use Policy
Web Shortcuts
Chandra Blog
RSS Feed
Chronicle
Email Newsletter
News & Noteworthy
Image Use Policy
Questions & Answers
Glossary of Terms
Download Guide
Get Adobe Reader
The Enduring Stellar Lifecycle in 30 Doradus
30 Doradus
Tarantula Nebula
Tarantula Nebula

  • The "Tarantula Nebula" (officially known as 30 Doradus) is available in a composite image of Chandra and JWST data for the first time.

  • 30 Doradus is a region of active star formation located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighbor galaxy of the Milky Way.

  • The image combines X-rays from Chandra (blue and purple) and infrared data from JWST (red, orange, green, and light blue).

  • 30 Doradus has a chemical composition similar to what most nebulas in our Galaxy had several billion years ago.

The largest and brightest region of star formation in the Local Group of galaxies, including the Milky Way, is called 30 Doradus (or, informally, the Tarantula Nebula). Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small neighbor galaxy to the Milky Way, 30 Doradus has long been studied by astronomers who want to better understand how stars like the Sun are born and evolve.

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has frequently looked at 30 Doradus over the lifetime of the mission, often under the direction of Dr. Leisa Townsley who passed away in the summer of 2022. These data will continue to be collected and analyzed, providing opportunities for scientists both now and in the future to learn more about star formation and its related processes.

This new composite image combines the X-ray data from Chandra observations of 30 Doradus with an infrared image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope that was released in the fall of 2022. The X-rays (royal blue and purple) reveal gas that has been heated to millions of degrees by shock waves — similar to sonic booms from airplanes — generated by the winds from massive stars. The Chandra data also identify the remains of supernova explosions, which will ultimately send important elements such as oxygen and carbon into space where they will become part of the next generation of stars.

The main image of this release appears in a small box overlayed on Chandra's larger field of view
Fields of View: Chandra, Hubble, Spitzer, and Webb. (Credit: X-ray (Chandra): NASA/CXC/Penn State Univ./L. Townsley et al.; IR (Spitzer): NASA/JPL/PSU/L.Townsley et al. IR (JWST): NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/JWST ERO Production Team; Optical (Hubble): NASA/STScI)

The infrared data from JWST (red, orange, green, and light blue) show spectacular canvases of cooler gas that provide the raw ingredients for future stars. JWST’s view also reveals “protostars,” that is, stars in their infancy, just igniting their stellar engines. The chemical composition of 30 Doradus is different from most of the nebulas found in the Milky Way. Instead it represents the conditions in our galaxy that existed several billion years ago when stars were forming at a much faster pace than astronomers see today. This, combined with its relative proximity and brightness, means that 30 Doradus provides scientists with an opportunity to learn more about how stars formed in our galaxy in the distant past.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world's premier space science observatory. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

 

Fast Facts for 30 Doradus (Tarantula Nebula):
Credit  X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State Univ./L. Townsley et al.; IR: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/JWST ERO Production Team
Release Date  January 9, 2023
Scale  Image is about 7.24 arcmin (360 light-years) across.
Category  Normal Stars & Star Clusters
Coordinates (J2000)  RA 5h 38m 42s | Dec -69° 06´ 03"
Constellation  Dorado
Observation Dates  54 observations from Jan 31, 2007 to Jan 23, 2016
Observation Time  571 hours 55 minutes (23 days 19 hours 55 minutes)
Obs. ID  5906, 7263, 7264, 16192-16203, 16442-16449, 16612, 16615-16617, 16621, 16640, 17413-17414, 17486, 17544-17545, 17555, 17561-17562, 17602-17603, 17640-17642, 17660, 18670-18672, 18706, 18720-18722, 18729, 18749-18750
Instrument  ACIS
Color Code  X-ray: dark blue; Infrared: red, orange, green, blue
IR
X-ray
Distance Estimate  About 170,000 light-years
distance arrow
Rate This Image

Rating: 4.0/5
(1314 votes cast)
Download & Share

Visual Description

More Information
More Images
X-ray Image of 30 Doradus
Jpg, Tif
X-ray image

More Images
Animation & Video
A Quick Look at 30 Doradus
animation

More Animations
More Releases
Related Images
LHA 120-N 44
LHA 120-N 44
(30 October 2019)
Eagle Nebula, M16
Eagle Nebula, M16
(12 July 2018)
NGC 6357
NGC 6357
(11 May 2020)

Related Information
Related Podcast
Top Rated Images
Brightest Cluster Galaxies

30 Doradus B

SS 433




FaceBookTwitterYouTubeFlickr