NGC 2081,2074, Large Magellanic Cloud

NGC 2081,2074 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, These two nebulae are a part of the convoluted pattern of gas and dust forming the  Large Magellanic Cloud(LMC). They are just south of the massive Tarantula Nebula NGC 2070. NGC 2081  is in the left center and includes an open star cluster.  The nebula NGC 2074 is to the right of NGC 2081.  The LMC is located at a declination of -69 degrees in the southern constellation Dorado and is only visible from the Southern Hemisphere. About 180 thousand light-years away, this region is the most violent star forming region known in the whole Local Group of galaxies. This distance is further away than any part of the Milky Way itself which is 110 thousand light years in size. The blue color is due to Oxygen emission, the green color is from Hydrogen emission and the red color is due to Sulfur emission. Intense radiation, stellar winds and supernova shocks  energize the nebular glow causing the emission and shape the spidery filaments.  The  field of view spans about  a degree or two full moons in size. If this region were closer, say 1,500 light-years distant like the local star forming Orion Nebula it would take up half the sky. The image data was taken from a remote telescope located Rio Hurtado Chile and assembled in Jackson Hole into the image here .This is a cropped version of a larger image.Larger Version