The "Tarantula Nebula" is a large cloud of hydrogen gas within the Large Magellanic Cloud (a dwarf galaxy near our Milky Way galaxy). It is 160,000 light years away in the southern constellation Dorado, and spans some 300 light years. The closest supernova explosion since the invention of the telescope occurred near this object in 1987 (SN 1987A). I took this image using the so-called "Hubble palette" of three filters (sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen) frequently used by the Hubble Space Telescope. While these filters produce a "false color" image, they nonetheless accentuate certain features in an image.
The "Tarantula Nebula" in Dorado
Date Taken:October 4, 2014
Location Taken:Siding Spring Observatory, NSW Australia
Conditions of Location: Equipment Used:Planewave 20" corrected Dall-Kirkham telescope, FLI PL6303E camera
Processing Used:10 x 5 minutes SII, OIII, and Ha, for a total exposure of 2.5 hours. Processed in Maxim DL and Photoshop.
Distance from Location:160,000 light years
Constellation:Dorado
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