ALMA gets front-row seat to an ongoing star-formation standoff in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), T. Wong et al (U. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), S. Dagnello (NRAO/AUI/NSF)

30 Doradus is a large star-forming region located in the heart of the Tarantula Nebula. Shown here in composite, the red/orange millimeter-wavelength data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) stands out like stringlike filaments against optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Scientists studying 30 Dor discovered that despite intense stellar feedback— which is known to moderate or decrease the birth rate of stars— gravity continues to shape the region, giving rise to star formation.

« ALMA gets front-row seat to an ongoing star-formation standoff in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), T. Wong et al (U. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign); S. Dagnello (NRAO/AUI/NSF)

This zoomed-in view of the southern region of 30 Doradus reveals some of the clumpy areas that help to make up the gas cloud. Unlike the northern region, which is home to massive protostars more than 5x the mass of the Sun, the southern region is home to numerous protostars similar in mass to the Sun. Future studies of the star-forming region using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) will help scientists to understand why star formation differs from location to location within 30 Dor.

« ALMA gets front-row seat to an ongoing star-formation standoff in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), T. Wong et al (U. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign); S. Dagnello (NRAO/AUI/NSF)

This zoomed-in view of the northern region of 30 Doradus reveals the filamentary structures that make up the gas cloud. This region contains several massive protostars— each more than 5x the mass of the Sun— and is characterized by ongoing star formation. Future studies of the star-forming region using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) will help scientists to understand why star formation differs from location to location within 30 Dor.

« ALMA gets front-row seat to an ongoing star-formation standoff in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Credit: IAU/Sky & Telescope

30 Doradus is a large star-forming region located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, at the heart of the Tarantula Nebula. It is roughly 170,000 light-years away from Earth.

« ALMA gets front-row seat to an ongoing star-formation standoff in the Large Magellanic Cloud

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