Sky and Telescope - November 2017 - 24

INSIDE 30 DORADUS by Greg Bryant

Treasures
Tarantula

of
the

I

OFTEN LIKE TO GAZE at the Orion Nebula (Messier
42) from my home in Australia. Just 1,300 light-years away,
it's the nearest region of massive star formation. It's also one
of the closest H II regions, places where ultraviolet radiation
from hot, young stars within a nebula ionizes the surrounding hydrogen gas.
After focusing on this eye-catching stellar nursery, I'll
turn my attention 60° due south to the Large Magellanic
Cloud (LMC). A satellite galaxy of our Milky Way, some
160,000 light-years away, it straddles the deep southern
constellations Dorado and Mensa. Within it is the extraordinary H II region 30 Doradus, better known as the Tarantula
Nebula. The region is clearly visible to the unaided eye as a
bright, fuzzy spot in the LMC's northeast.
More than 600 light-years across, 30 Doradus boasts
several young star clusters, vigorous star-forming regions,
brightly glowing ionized gas, millions of stars (including
the most massive known), and dark molecular clouds. If the
Tarantula were as close to us as M42, we'd behold a staggering sight. Its glowing stars and filamentary tendrils of shining gas and dust would overflow the entire constellation of
24

N O V E M B E R 2 0 17 * S K Y & T E L E S C O P E

Orion, cast shadows at night, and be visible in daylight!
Yet 30 Doradus is much more than a southern-sky showpiece. It holds a significant place in our quest to understand
the universe.

The Appeal of 30 Doradus
Galaxies are very much defined by regions of star formation,
some so intense they're known as starburst galaxies. But most
of these regions are unresolved in the best of telescopes. So
astronomers' understanding of distant starbursts relies upon
models underpinned by assumptions about what drives star
formation, the limits that massive stars can reach, and how
those stars influence the interstellar medium.

p NEXT-DOOR GALAXY The Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy of
the Milky Way, is 160,000 light-years away. It's the home of the Tarantula
Nebula (30 Doradus), set amid a complex of crimson-hued nebulae.
u SPIDERY SPLENDOR The Tarantula Nebula is a favorite of southernsky astrophotographers. But it is equally prized by stellar researchers as
a nearby and easily observed window on how star formation occurred
in the early universe. This view measures 45 by 35 arcminutes. Inset:
Gauged by its rate of star formation, the Tarantula Nebula (yellow star)
has few peers, as shown in this plot of some 22,000 star-forming regions in nearby galaxies, including the well-studied spiral M33.

IM AG E: G ER A LD RHEM A NN; FACING -PAG E IM AG E: ESO / ROBERT FOSBURY;
G R A PH: L AUR A A . LOPE Z E T A L. / ASTR OPHYSICAL JOUR NAL 2011

Researchers eagerly study a prodigious starmaking factory in our galactic backyard.



Sky and Telescope - November 2017

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Sky and Telescope - November 2017 - 1
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