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| The 30 Doradus Nebula is a diffuse cloud of glowing gas and dust some 170,000 light years distant in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which is a companion satellite galaxy of the Milky Way galaxy. Originally cataloged as a star 30 Doradus, it was first recognized as a gaseous nebula by the French astronomer Abbe Nicholas Louis de la Caille (1713–1762) in 1751. The 30 Doradus Nebula hosts the most active region of star formation in the local universe. Many of the massive stars in the nebula are old enough to have formed supernovae, which have blasted material back into the surrounding nebula at high speeds. The nebula is powered by dozens of giant stars that are clustered toward its center. |
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