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Hubble Images 30 Doradus: Hodge 301
The star cluster Hodge 301 is 20 million to 25 million years old. Hodge 301 is home to many aging, red supergiant stars, indicating the cluster is older. Roughly 40 massive stars already have exploded as supernovas. The expanding wave of debris is slamming into gas ejected by stars in R136, creating a ridge of star formation between the two clusters. The fledgling stars are embedded in dense gas and cannot be seen.
30 Doradus is the brightest, nearby star-forming region and home to the most massive stars in our cosmic neighborhood of about 25 galaxies. The nebula is close enough to Earth that Hubble can resolve individual stars, giving astronomers important information about the stars' birth and evolution. 30 Doradus resides 170,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small, satellite galaxy of our Milky Way.
About the Object
- R.A. PositionR.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.05h 38m 42.36s
- Dec. PositionDec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.-69° 6' 3.24"
- ConstellationConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.Dorado
- DistanceDistanceThe 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 DescriptionData 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.This image combines many exposures from the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) from the HST proposal 12499: D. Lennon and E. Sabbi (ESA/STScI), J. Anderson, S. E. de Mink, R. van der Marel, T. Sohn, and N. Walborn (STScI), N. Bastian (Excellence Cluster, Munich), L. Bedin (INAF, Padua), E. Bressert (ESO), P. Crowther (University of Sheffield), A. de Koter (University of Amsterdam), C. Evans (UKATC/STFC, Edinburgh), A. Herrero (IAC, Tenerife), N. Langer (AifA, Bonn), I. Platais (JHU), and H. Sana (University of Amsterdam). - InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.HST>ACS/WFC, HST>WFC3/UVIS, and ESO 2.2m Telescope>WFI
- Exposure DatesExposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.October 2011 (HST), and January 2006 (ESO)
- FiltersFiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.ACS/WFC and WFC3/UVIS: F775W (SDSS i) ESO: OIII/8 and H-alpha/7
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.Tarantula Nebula, 30 Doradus, 30 Dor, NGC 2070
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.Emission Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud
- Release DateApril 17, 2012
- Science ReleaseHubble’s 22nd Anniversary Image Shows Turbulent Star-making Region
- CreditNASA, ESA, D. Lennon and E. Sabbi (ESA/STScI), J. Anderson, S. E. de Mink, R. van der Marel, T. Sohn, and N. Walborn (STScI), N. Bastian (Excellence Cluster, Munich), L. Bedin (INAF, Padua), E. Bressert (ESO), P. Crowther (University of Sheffield), A. de Koter (University of Amsterdam), C. Evans (UKATC/STFC, Edinburgh), A. Herrero (IAC, Tenerife), N. Langer (AifA, Bonn), I. Platais (JHU), and H. Sana (University of Amsterdam)
This image is a composite of many separate exposures made by the ACS and WFC3 instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope along with ESO 2.2m ground-based observations. In total, two filters were used to sample narrow wavelength emission and two filters were used to sample broadband wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are: Red: ESO H-alpha (656nm) Green: ESO average of H-alpha+[O III] Blue: ESO [O III] (502nm) Luminosity*: ACS/WFC F775W + WFC3/UVIS F775W * The higher-resolution, black & white Hubble image and the lower-resolution, color ESO images were combined using a technique that takes luminosity (brightness) information from the black and white ACS/WFC3 image and color information from the composite ESO image. This preserves all of the higher-resolution detail from the Hubble data while rendering a color image representing the physical processes in this active region of space.
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
