2010 August 16, 17:43 SAST

ESO survey delivers spectacular new Tarantula image

The newest telescope at ESO's Paranal Observatory in northern Chile, VISTA, has began an amibitious near-infrared survey of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.

VISTA is the world's largest survey telescope with a 4.1m f/3.25 primary mirror.

The telescope, with its 67-megapixel camera, was used to produce a beautiful image of the region around NGC 2070, the famous Tarantula Nebula. The press release image also highlights NGC 2100, NGC 2080, NGC 2081, NGC 2083, and SN 1987A.

"This view is of one of the most important regions of star formation in the local Universe – the spectacular 30 Doradus star-forming region, also called the Tarantula Nebula," says lead investigator Maria-Rosa Cioni (U Hertfordshire, UK). "At its core is a large cluster of stars called RMC 136, in which some of the most massive stars known are located."

Team member Chris Evans adds: "The VISTA images will allow us to extend our studies beyond the inner regions of the Tarantula into the multitude of smaller stellar nurseries nearby, which also harbour a rich population of young and massive stars. Armed with the new, exquisite infrared images, we will be able to probe the cocoons in which massive stars are still forming today, while also looking at their interaction with older stars in the wider region."

The VMC (VISTA Magellanic Cloud Survey), first of six planned surveys, will cover 184 square degrees of sky. The survey will perform YJKs band photometry down to Ks=20.3 at S/N=10.

The VISTA home page notes: "This sensitivity corresponds to the bottom of the red giant branch field stellar population and allows us to determine the global spatially resolved star formation history with unprecedented quality and to construct a three-dimensional map of the system. A wide-area encompassing the D25 as well as major features delineated by the distribution of stars and HI gas, will both trace the structure of the galaxies and signatures of past and present interactions. Contemporary optical and kinematic observations of comparable sensitivity will provide the community with a superior database for future studies of the system and will give us an excellent insight as to what has happened elsewhere in the Universe."

ESO Press Release eso1033