The bright Tarantula Nebula lies in one of our neighbouring galaxies, the Large Magellanic Cloud. It was visible to the naked eye in the southern sky in Namibia during clear nights. The nebula appears in the sky as the brightest and largest star-forming region that we can observe in the local universe. Young stars shine in intense ultraviolet light, which ionises surrounding gas and stimulates it to emit red light. At 170,000 light years, the Tarantula Nebula is around 100 times further away from us than the Orion Nebula. However, it is so bright that it would cast shadows if it were as close to us as the Orion Nebula.
Tarantula Nebula – NGC2070