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30 Doradus Nebula, Visible and Infrared Comparison

This is a close-up view of a star-birth region within the 30 Doradus nebula that lies inside the satellite galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, 170,000 light-years away. A Hubble Space Telescope view in visible light (left) reveals glowing clouds of hydrogen and dark filamentary structures of dust.

When viewed by Hubble in near-infrared light (right), innumerable stars and protostars can be seen behind the dusty veil. Newly formed stars are often embedded in clouds of dust, and only the near-infrared light can pass through these clouds.

This set of images was taken with the Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3.

About the Object

R.A. Position
R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
05h 38m 42.4s
Dec. Position
Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
-69° 6' 3.35"
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.
Approximately 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 ACS/WFC3 data are from the following HST proposals: 12499: D. Lennon (ESA), E. Sabbi (ESA/STScI), J. Anderson, R. van der Marel, T. Sohn, and N. Walborn (STScI), L. Bedin (INAF, Padua), C. Evans (Royal Observatory Edinburgh), H. Sana (STScI/ESA), N. Langer (University of Bonn), S. de Mink (Carnegie Institution of Washington), P. Crowther (University of Sheffield), A. Herrero (IAC, Tenerife), N. Bastian (USM, Munich), and E. Bressert (Australia Telescope National Facility); 12939: E. Sabbi (ESA/STScI), A. Aloisi, J. Anderson, K. Gordon, A. Koekemoer, R. van der Marel, N. Panagia, and C. Christian (STScI), M. Boyer (NASA/GSFC), C. Evans (Royal Observatory Edinburgh), J. Gallagher (University of Wisconsin, Madison), E. Grebel (Astronomisches Rechen-Institut Heidelberg), S. de Mink (Carnegie Institution of Washington), S. Larsen (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen), D. Lennon (ESA), M. Tosi (INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna), and D. Zaritsky (University of Arizona)
Instrument
InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
HST>ACS/WFC and HST>WFC3/UVIS (left image), HST>ACS/WFC and HST>WFC3/IR (right image)
Filters
FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
Visible light image (left) ACS/WFC: F658N (H-alpha) and F775W (i) WFC3/UVIS: F275W, F336W, and F775W (i) ACS/WFC: F555W (V) Infrared light image (right) ACS/WFC: F555W (V) WFC3/IR: F110W (YJ), F160W (H)

Object Name
Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
30 Doradus
Object Description
Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
Emission Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud
Release Date
January 9, 2014
Science Release
Electronic Book for Students with Visual Impairments Reaches for the Stars
Read the release
Credit
NASA, ESA, and E. Sabbi (STScI)

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The images in this release are composites of separate exposures obtained with the ACS and WFC3 instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample broad and narrow wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Visible light image (left) Luminance: F658N (H-alpha) Blue: F275W, F336W Cyan: F555W (V) Orange: F775W (i) Infrared light image (right) Blue: F555W (V) Green: F110W (YJ) Red: F160W (H)

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