This image may not be used by or to promote the arms, nuclear power or tobacco industries or any religious organisation, or in any discriminatory way,

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This image may not be used by or to promote the arms, nuclear power or tobacco industries or any religious organisation, or in any discriminatory way, or to imply the endorsement by ESO of any product, service or activity Large Magellanic Cloud. Optical image of the irregular dwarf galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), around 170,000 light years away in the constellations of Dorado and Mensa. Several pink nebulae can be seen. These are starbirth regions of gas and dust which glow due to ionisation of hydrogen gas by hot young stars embedded in them. The brightest patch is the Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070, centre left), one of the largest and most powerful nebulae known. The LMC is about 50,000 light years wide. Visible in the skies of the southern hemisphere, this galaxy is part of the Local Group of galaxies that includes the Milky Way. Image obtained in 1986 by the European Southern Observatory (ESO)'s 1-metre Schmidt Telescope.

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Photo credit: © EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: -, 1986, 2070, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, cloud, dorado, dwarf, eso, european, galactic, galaxies, galaxy, irregular, large, lmc, magellanic, mensa, nebula, nebulae, ngc, observatory, optical, regions, schmidt, southern, space, starbirth, stars, tarantula, telescope, universe, visible