Starship Asterisk*

I recall that during the 1950s, when I was a teenager interested in all things astronomical, that astronomers once thought that 30 Doradus was a single massive star.

Gary R

[quote="bparsons"]What cosmic events can form masses of gas and dust the size of the Tarantula Nebula, which contains more than enough matter to create a “cluster of the largest, most massive stars known?”[/quote]
My guess would be interaction among the LMC, SMC, and the Milky Way.

What cosmic events can form masses of gas and dust the size of the Tarantula Nebula, which contains more than enough matter to create a “cluster of the largest, most massive stars known?”

[url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091221.html][img]http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_091221.jpg[/img] [size=150]Star Cluster R136 Bursts Out[/size][/url]

[b] Explanation: [/b] In the center of star-forming region [url=http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n2070.html]30 Doradus[/url] lies a [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_star_cluster]huge cluster[/url] of the largest, hottest, most massive stars known. These stars, known collectively as [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R136]star cluster R136[/url], were captured above in [url=http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2009/32/image/a/]visible light[/url] by the newly installed [url=http://www.stsci.edu/hst/wfc3]Wide Field Camera[/url] peering though the recently refurbished [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010806.html]Hubble Space Telescope[/url]. Gas and [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030706.html]dust[/url] clouds in [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090916.html]30 Doradus[/url], also known as the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula]Tarantula[/url] Nebula, have been sculpted into elongated shapes by powerful [url=http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wsolwind.html]winds[/url] and [url=http://science.hq.nasa.gov/kids/imagers/ems/uv.html]ultraviolet radiation[/url] from these hot cluster stars. The [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090331.html]30 Doradus Nebula[/url] lies [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsq1oaehLG4]within a neighboring galaxy[/url] known as the [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap081219.html]Large Magellanic Cloud[/url] and is located a mere 170,000 [url=http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html]light-years[/url] away.

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