VISTA Magellanic Cloud Survey view of the Tarantula Nebula (annotated version)

Eso_eso1033c_1024

eso_eso1033c August 11th, 2010

Credit: ESO/M.-R. Cioni/VISTA Magellanic Cloud Survey. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit

This VISTA image shows the spectacular 30 Doradus star-forming region, also called the Tarantula Nebula. At its core is a large cluster of stars known as R 136, in which some of the most massive stars known are located. This infrared image, made with ESO’s VISTA survey telescope, is from the VISTA Magellanic Cloud Survey. The project will scan a vast area — 184 square degrees of the sky (corresponding to almost one thousand times the apparent area of the full Moon), including our nearby neighbouring galaxies the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. The end result will be a detailed study of the star formation history and three-dimensional geometry of the Magellanic system. This image was created from images taken through Y, J and Ks filters in the near-infrared part of the spectrum (coloured blue, green and red respectively). The exposure times were 40, 47 and 81 minutes per filter respectively. The image covers a region of sky about 52 by 70 arcminutes.

Provider: European Southern Observatory

Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1033c/

Curator: European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
30 Doradus NGC 2070
Subject - Local Universe
Nebula
Star > Grouping > Cluster
Eso_eso1033c_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 5h 38m 38.0s
DEC = -69° 5’ 41.7”
Orientation
North is 0.5° CCW
Field of View
0.9 x 1.2 degrees
Constellation
Dorado

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VIRCAM) Infrared (K) -
Green Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VIRCAM) Infrared (J) -
Blue Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VIRCAM) Infrared (Y) -
Eso_eso1033c_1280
×
ID
eso1033c
Subject Category
C.4   C.3.6.4  
Subject Name
30 Doradus, NGC 2070
Credits
ESO/M.-R. Cioni/VISTA Magellanic Cloud Survey. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit
Release Date
2010-08-11T12:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1033c/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Approximate distance in light years from AJ (http://iopscience.iop.org/0067-0049/191/1/160/fulltext)
Facility
Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy, Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy, Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy
Instrument
VIRCAM, VIRCAM, VIRCAM
Color Assignment
Red, Green, Blue
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
K, J, Y
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
84.658276, -69.094909
Reference Dimension
2992.0, 4000.0
Reference Pixel
1450.93813228, 2491.67432828
Scale
-0.00029286659, 0.00029286659
Rotation
0.46547516195
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
European Southern Observatory
URL
http://www.eso.org/
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City
Garching bei München
State/Province
Postal Code
D-85748
Country
Germany
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
European Southern Observatory
Publisher ID
eso
Resource ID
eso1033c
Metadata Date
2010-08-09T12:20:49+02:00
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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