Panning across N180

This pan video explores a dazzling region of newly-forming stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The HII region LHA 120-N 180B — also known as N180 — was captured by the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. The relatively small amount of dust in the LMC and MUSE’s acute vision allowed intricate details of the region to be picked out in visible light.

Deep within the glowing cloud of N180, MUSE spotted a jet emitted by a fledgling star — a massive young stellar object. This is the first time such a jet has been observed in visible light outside the Milky Way. Usually, such jets are obscured by their dusty surroundings, meaning they can only be detected at infrared or radio wavelengths by telescopes such as ALMA. However, the relatively dust-free environment of the LMC allowed this jet — named Herbig–Haro 1177, or HH 1177 for short — to be observed at visible wavelengths. At nearly 33 light-years in length, it is one of the longest such jets ever observed.