           APOD: 2018 May 20 - In the Heart of the Tarantula Nebula

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                  2018 May 20
                                      [2]
                    In the Heart of the Tarantula Nebula
  Image Credit: ESA [3] , NASA [4] , Hubble [5] , ESO [6] ; Processing:  Danny
                                    LaCrue

Explanation: In the heart of monstrous Tarantula Nebula [7]  lies huge bubbles
of energetic gas, long filaments of dark dust, and unusually massive stars. In
the center of this heart, is a knot of stars [8]  so dense that it was once
thought to be a single star. This star cluster, labeled as R136 [9]  or NGC
2070, is visible just above the center of the featured image [10]  and home to
a great number of hot young stars. The energetic light from these stars
continually ionizes nebula gas, while their energetic particle wind [11]
blows bubbles and defines intricate filaments. The representative-color
picture [12] , a digital synthesis of images from the NASA [13] / ESA [14]
orbiting Hubble Space Telescope [15]  and ESO [16] 's ground-based New
Technology Telescope [17] , shows great details of the LMC [18]  nebula's
tumultuous center. The Tarantula Nebula, also known as the 30 Doradus [19]
nebula, is one of the largest star-formation regions [20]  known, and has been
creating unusually strong episodes of star formation [21]  every few million
years.

                    Tomorrow's picture: jupiter awhirl [22]

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [34] (MTU [35] ) & Jerry Bonnell [36]
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1805/Tarantula_HubbleLacrue_3204.jpg
  [3] http://www.esa.int/
  [4] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [5] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html
  [6] http://www.eso.org/public/
  [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula_nebula
  [8] http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1984AExpr...1...45W
  [9] ap070506.html
  [10] https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0416a/
  [11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_wind
  [12] https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0416a/
  [13] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [14] https://www.esa.int/
  [15] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/story/index.html
  [16] http://www.eso.org/
  [17] http://www.eso.org/public/usa/teles-instr/lasilla/ntt/
  [18] ap161229.html
  [19] ap051212.html
  [20] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW35oaEHlHI
  [21]
https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve
  [22] ap180521.html
  [23] ap180519.html
  [24] archivepix.html
  [25] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [26] lib/aptree.html
  [27] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [28] calendar/allyears.html
  [29] /apod.rss
  [30] lib/edlinks.html
  [31] lib/about_apod.html
  [32] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=180520
  [33] ap180521.html
  [34] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [35] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [36] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  [37] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [38] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [39] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  [40] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [41] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [42] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [43] http://www.mtu.edu/
