C103 — Tarantula Nebula
HII Region in Dorado
About
The Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070, also 30 Doradus) is an enormous cloud of glowing gas belonging to the Large Magellanic Cloud, about 160,000 light-years away. The tight R136 star group at its centre drives most of the glow. Supernova 1987A exploded on its outskirts.
Imaging tips
- At 610–1010 mm on APS-C the nebula fills a third to half of the frame. It spans about 40′ × 25′.
- An emission nebula, so narrowband suits it. One imager used SHO (Hubble palette) with 3 nm filters, 210–240 min on SII and OIII; another gathered 12 hours.
- Despite its magnitude of 8, the light is spread thin at 24.1 mag/arcsec², so plan several hours of integration.
- Best around December, but it never rises from mid-northern latitudes such as 35°N or 50°N: a southern-hemisphere target.
Facts
- Size
- 40′ × 25′
- Magnitude
- 8.0
- Coordinates
- RA 5h 38.7m, Dec −69° 6′
- Framing, APS-C
- 610–1010 mm
- Framing, full frame
- 930–1550 mm
- Best months
- Dec
- Peak altitude
- never rises from 50°N, never rises from 35°N