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| If this enormous complex of stars, gas and dust were at the distance of the Orion Nebula it would visible during the day and cover a quarter of the sky. While the Orion Nebula contains a mere handful of the hot blue stars which energise it, the Tarantula nebula has spawned many thousands in the region shown here, which surrounds a compact, brilliant cluster known as 30 Doradus. Like the Orion Nebula, the 30 Doradus region is a naked eye object for the keen sighted. It is however over one hundred times more distant! The Tarantula nebula is by far the biggest and most active star-forming region of the Large Magellanic Cloud and is much more massive than any of the many similar objects known in our own Galaxy. |