NASA space telescopes have created a composite image of the Tarantula Nebula by layering observations from multiple observatories. The image reveals new details about the star formation region, also known as 30 Doradus, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud about 160,000 light-years from Earth.
The composite combines X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory in blue, showing gas heated to millions of degrees by shock waves from winds off young, massive stars. Infrared data from the James Webb Space Telescope appears in red, revealing thousands of young stars and cool dust that will form new stars and planets. Optical data in green from the Hubble Space Telescope shows warmer hydrogen gas and individual stars throughout the nebula.
Researchers studying the data discovered less X-ray-emitting gas in the nebula than expected, prompting investigation into where the energy from stellar winds had gone. A research paper published in the Astrophysical Journal concluded the nebula loses energy through three mechanisms: hot gas leaking through shell walls and escaping the nebula, mixing between cold and hot gas that lowers overall temperature, and heat conduction between hot and cooler material in contact with each other.
The paper was led by Jennifer Rodriguez of The Ohio State University in Columbus. Additional authors include researchers from Ohio State, Columbia University, San Diego State University, the Space Telescope Science Institute, and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
