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Tarantula Nebula (MIRI Image)

Wispy pale yellow nebula clouds highlighted with bright blue, purple and pink, surrounding a large black cavity. A few small blue stars are sprinkled at the right edge of the cavity and in the cloud. There are a few occasional bright pink spots and larger, brighter white stars. One large clump of blue dust floats amid the small blue stars. One large blue star is alone at the top of cavity, with short blue spikes and snowflake-like arms. A couple other stars in the cloud also appear like tiny snowflakes instead of points of light.

At the longer wavelengths of light captured by its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), Webb focuses on the area surrounding the central star cluster and unveils a very different view of the Tarantula Nebula. In this light, the young hot stars of the cluster fade in brilliance, and glowing gas and dust come forward. Abundant hydrocarbons light up the surfaces of the dust clouds, shown in blue and purple. Much of the nebula takes on a more ghostly, diffuse appearance because mid-infrared light is able to show more of what is happening deeper inside the clouds. Still-embedded protostars pop into view within their dusty cocoons, including a bright group at the very top edge of the image, left of center. 

Other areas appear dark, like in the lower-left corner of the image. This indicates the densest areas of dust in the nebula, that even mid-infrared wavelengths cannot penetrate. These could be the sites of future, or current, star formation.

MIRI was contributed by ESA and NASA, with the instrument designed and built by a consortium of nationally funded European Institutes (The MIRI European Consortium) in partnership with JPL and the University of Arizona.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    05:38:42.4
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -69:06:03.35
  • 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.
    170,000 light-years (52,000 parsecs)
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    Image is 2.64 arcmin across (about 130 light-years)

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.

    This image was created from JWST data from proposal: 2729. It is part of Webb Early Release Observations. The Early Release Observations and associated materials were developed, executed, and compiled by the ERO production team: Jaclyn Barrientes, Claire Blome, Hannah Braun, Matthew Brown, Margaret Carruthers, Dan Coe, Joseph DePasquale, Nestor Espinoza, Macarena Garcia Marin, Karl Gordon, Alaina Henry, Leah Hustak, Andi James, Ann Jenkins, Anton Koekemoer, Stephanie LaMassa, David Law, Alexandra Lockwood, Amaya Moro-Martin, Susan Mullally, Alyssa Pagan, Dani Player, Klaus Pontoppidan, Charles Proffitt, Christine Pulliam, Leah Ramsay, Swara Ravindranath, Neill Reid, Massimo Robberto, Elena Sabbi, Leonardo Ubeda. The EROs were also made possible by the foundational efforts and support from the JWST instruments, STScI planning and scheduling, Data Management teams, and Office of Public Outreach.

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    MIRI
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    10 June 2022
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F770W, F1000W, F1280W, F1800W
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Tarantula Nebula, 30 Doradus, 30 Dor, NGC 2070
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Emission Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud
  • Release Date
    September 6, 2022
  • Science Release
    A Cosmic Tarantula, Caught by NASA’s Webb
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team

Downloads

  • Full Res (For Print), 1397 × 1059
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    png (2.01 MB)
Wispy pale yellow nebula clouds highlighted with bright blue, purple and pink, surrounding a large black cavity. A few small blue stars are sprinkled at the right edge of the cavity and in the cloud. There are a few occasional bright pink spots and larger, brighter white stars. One large clump of blue dust floats amid the small blue stars. One large blue star is alone at the top of cavity, with short blue spikes and snowflake-like arms. A couple other stars in the cloud also appear like tiny snowflakes instead of points of light.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the James Webb Space Telescope using the MIRI instrument. Several filters were used to sample broad 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:   Red: F1800W Green: F1280W Blue: F1000W Blue: F770W

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.

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Details

Last Updated
Aug 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

Image Credit

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team

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