08/09/2022
NASA has released an incredible image of the Tarantula Nebula taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.
At only 161,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy, the Tarantula Nebula is the largest and brightest star-forming region in the Local Group, the galaxies nearest our Milky Way. It’s home to the hottest, most massive stars known to astronomers.
They focused three of Webb’s high-resolution infrared instruments on the nebula. Viewed with Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), the region resembles a burrowing tarantula’s home, lined with silk.
The nebula’s cavity centred in the NIRCam image has been hollowed out by blistering radiation from a cluster of massive young stars, which sparkle pale blue in the picture.
Only the densest surrounding areas of the nebula resist erosion by these stars’ powerful stellar winds, forming pillars that appear to point back toward the cluster. These pillars contain forming protostars, which will eventually emerge from their dusty cocoons and take their turn shaping the nebula.
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📸: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / Webb ERO Production Team
