A giant tarantula creeps through a nearby galaxy. It’s the galaxy’s brightest feature and the most impressive stellar nursery in the entire Local Group — the cluster of dozens of galaxies that includes the Milky Way. The Tarantula Nebula is in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a companion galaxy to the Milky Way. Over the last few million years, the nebula has given birth to millions of stars, many of which are found in giant clusters. The largest, R136, contains a half-million stars, most of which are no more than three million years old. [NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Webb ERO Production Team]
Find out more in our radio program entitled Tarantula Nebula.