In the Center of 30 Doradus
Explanation:
In the center of
30 Doradus
lies a huge cluster of the largest, hottest,
most massive stars known. The center of this cluster, known as
R136, is
boxed in the upper right portion of the above picture. The gas and
dust
filling the rest of the picture is predominantly ionized
hydrogen from the
emission nebula
30
Doradus. R136 is composed of thousands of hot blue
stars, some about 50 times more massive than our
Sun.
30 Doradus and R136 lie in the
LMC - a satellite galaxy to our own
Milky Way Galaxy. Although
the ages of stars in R136 cause it to be best described as an
open cluster,
R136's density will likely make it a low mass
globular cluster in a
few billion years.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
