30 Doradus in optical to radio wavelengths

This video starts with a view of the star-forming region 30 Doradus, also known as the Tarantula Nebula, in optical wavelengths, taken with ESO’s 2.2-metre telescope at La Silla Observatory. Located in the southern constellation of Dorado (The Dolphinfish) in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud, the Tarantula Nebula is known for its unique, web-like clouds.

During the video, the image shifts to an infrared view of the Tarantula Nebula. The infrared data are provided by ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) and reveal pinkish clouds of hot gas. Radio data taken by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) are then overlaid, represented by bright red-yellow streaks. These streaks highlight the locations of cold, dense gas clouds that have the potential to collapse and form new stars. The radio data are then presented on their own, displaying in detail some of the spidery structures that originally gave rise to the moniker Tarantula Nebula.