Hanson Astronomy Photos

"Tarantula Nebula or Butterfly?"

It is the largest and most complex star forming region in the entire galactic neighborhood. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy orbiting our Milky Way galaxy, the region's spidery appearance is responsible for its popular name, the Tarantula nebula.

This tarantula, however, is about 1,000 light-years across. Were it placed at the distance of Milky Way's Orion Nebula, only 1,500 light-years distant and the nearest stellar nursery to Earth, it would appear to cover about 30 degrees (60 full moons) on the sky. Intriguing details of the nebula are visible in the following images shown in colors emitted predominantly by hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur as well as red, green and blue.

The spindly arms of the Tarantula nebula surround NGC 2070, a star cluster that contains some of the brightest, most massive stars known, visible in this butterfly like section of the image. Since massive stars live fast and die young, it is not so surprising that the cosmic Tarantula also lies near the site of the closest recent supernova.

3 versions of this nebula, all quite different. SHORGB, RGBHaO3, and A Hybrid image

Imaged in LRGB with our PlaneWave CDK 24 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.

RGB-HA-O3-S2

Image Processing: Mark Hanson

Data SWOS: Hanson, Mazlin, Parker, Forman

Enjoy, Mark

Processed from the Data archives from SSRO  01-01-2014
Exposure Time:    3 frame mosaic with total of 16 hrs Ha, 13 hrs OIII, 6.5 hrs Red, 5 hrs Green, and 7 hrs Blue
Camera:    Apogee U9
Telescope:    RCOS Carbon Truss 16 inch f/11.3 Ritchey-Chretien
Mount:    Planewave 200HR

CTIO, Chile

New Updated Image.