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30 Doradus in Ultraviolet, Visible, and Red Light

A dense cluster of bright blue-white stars surrounded by fluffy orange and brown material.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    05h 38m 42.36s
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -69° 6' 3.24"
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Dorado
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    170,000 light-years (52,000 parsecs)

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
    The image was created from Hubble data from proposal 11360: R. O'Connell (University of Virginia), B. Balick (University of Washington), H. Bond (STScI), D. Calzetti (University of Massachusetts), M. Carollo (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich), M. Disney (University of Wales, College of Cardiff), M. Dopita (Australian National University), J. Frogel (Ohio State University Research Foundation), D. Hall (University of Hawaii), J. Holtzman (New Mexico State University), P. McCarthy (Carnegie Institution of Washington), F. Paresce (European Southern Observatory, Germany), A. Saha (NOAO/AURA), J. Silk (University of Oxford), A. Walker (NOAO/CTIO), B. Whitmore (STScI), R. Windhorst (Arizona State University), and E. Young (University of Arizona).
  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    HST>WFC3/UVIS
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    October 20 - 27, 2009, Exposure Time: 11.7 hours
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F336W (U), F438W (B), F555W (V), F656N (H-alpha), and F814W (I)
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    30 Doradus, 30 Dor
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud
  • Release Date
    December 15, 2009
  • Science Release
    Hubble’s Festive View of a Grand Star-Forming Region
    Read the release
  • Credits
    NASA, ESA, F. Paresce (INAF-IASF, Bologna, Italy), R. O'Connell (University of Virginia, Charlottesville), and the Wide Field Camera 3 Science Oversight Committee

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A dense cluster of bright blue-white stars surrounded by fluffy orange and brown material.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

The image is a composite of separate exposures made by the WFC3 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. Five filters were used to sample broad and narrow wavelength ranges for the UVIS image. Two filters were used to sample broad wavelength ranges from the IR image. The colors result from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F336W (U) + F438W (B) Green: F555W (V) Red: F814W (I) Orange/red: F656N (H-alpha)

Compass and Scale
Compass and ScaleAn astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.

Related Images & Videos

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Compass and Scale Image for 30 Doradus

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Hubble Observes the Large Magellanic Cloud's Star-Forming Region, 30 Doradus

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Last Updated
Feb 17, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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