This multiwavelength image of the Tarantula Nebula, one of the brightest and largest regions of star formation to Earth, shows X-rays from Chandra that reveal gas that has been blown away in winds from the surfaces of young, massive stars and heated to millions of degrees by shock waves, like sonic booms from supersonic jets. The infrared data from Webb shows thousands of young stars, plus swaths of cool dust that will provide the ingredients to one day form new stars and planets. Hubble optical data uncovers hydrogen gas that is warmer than seen with Webb, as well as some individual stars through the nebula.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/Ohio State Univ./J. Rodriguez et al; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/P. Edmonds

Data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope combine to reveal a vibrant view of 30 Doradus, or the Tarantula Nebula, in this Aug. 11, 2026, image. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small neighbor galaxy to the Milky Way about 160,000 light-years from Earth, the Tarantula has thousands of young stars embedded in a vibrant honeycomb-like structure of gas and dust.

By studying the data from Chandra, Hubble, and Webb, combined with data from the agency’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers determined that the Tarantula may be losing energy from several sources, including hot gas escaping from the nebula.

Learn more about this image.

Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Ohio State Univ./J. Rodriguez et al; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/P. Edmonds

Source: www.nasa.gov

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

Lion Nebula Roars in Webb’s Sights

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope imaged the planetary nebula NGC 2392, the Lion Nebula, using the observatory’s NIRCam and MIRI instruments. The...

Read out all

NASA Telescopes Create Colorful ‘Craft’ From Nearby Nebula

4 Min Read NASA Telescopes Create Colorful ‘Craft’ From Nearby Nebula Like a collage made of layered sheets of colored cellophane, a...

Read out all

Lion Nebula Roars to Life With NASA’s Webb

Explore Webb Science James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Lion Nebula Roars to Life With… Webb News Latest News Latest Images Webb’s Blog...

Read out all

NASA Selects Blue Origin as Mars Telecommunications Network Provider

Credit: NASA NASA awarded Blue Origin a contract Tuesday to develop the agency’s Mars Telecommunications Network, a next-generation communications system that will...

Read out all

NASA’s IXPE Studies Magnetar

NASA/Pablo Garcia Scientists using NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) conducted more than 140 hours of observations of the magnetar 1E 1547-5408,...

Read out all

Meet Mmoab: A Military Working Dog Serving in England

The latest addition to the 100th Security Forces Squadron’s military working dog pack is 3-year-old Mmoab, a black Belgian Malinois who joined...

Read out all