Tarantula Nebula

space · nebula · LMC · cosmic gas

Named for its shape. The Tarantula Nebula looks like a giant tarantula spider when you view it through a telescope, which is how it got its creepy cool name.

Lives next door. This massive nebula exists in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is a smaller galaxy that orbits our Milky Way like a cosmic neighbor.

A stellar nursery. The Tarantula Nebula is an H II region, which means it's a gigantic cloud of glowing hydrogen gas where new stars are being born right now.

Corner of the galaxy. You can find the Tarantula Nebula in the southeastern corner of the Large Magellanic Cloud, making it one of the brightest spots in that galaxy.

Visible from Earth. Even though the Tarantula Nebula is incredibly far away, astronomers with telescopes can see it glowing in the southern sky.