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,

---

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 Star cluster R136. This cluster, which is located within the Tarantula nebula, contains the most massive star found as of July 2010. The star (at centre), named R136a1, has a mass 265 times that of the Sun. It is just over a million years old and so has already shed a fifth of its initial mass, equivalent to 50 Suns. Image obtained with the MAD adaptive optics instrument at the Very Large Telescope.

---

Size: 3404px × 3425px
Photo credit: © EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY/P. CROWTHER/C.J. EVANS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 21st, astronomical, astronomy, biggest, century, cluster, heaviest, large, massive, nebula, r136, r136a1, rmc136, space, star, stars, tarantula, telescope, vlt