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WHAT’S HOT: Webb telescope captures giant space 'tarantula'

The space agency's James Webb space telescope captured the image of a large magellanic cloud galaxy nicknamed the 'tarantula nebula.'

News 12 Staff

Sep 7, 2022, 11:36 AM

Updated 836 days ago

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Giant space tarantula - three words that would most likely cause some concern.
But NASA is wowing astronomers with a new photo of one.
The space agency's James Webb space telescope captured the image of a large magellanic cloud galaxy nicknamed the 'tarantula nebula.'
Scientists say it got that nickname because it resembles a burrowing tarantula's home line with its silk.
The nebula sits 161,000 light-years away from earth.
It is the largest and brightest star-forming region in the galaxies closest to the Milky Way.
NASA says it also houses the hottest and most massive stars currently known to astronomers.
Thanks to the Webb telescope, scientists have been able to spot tens of thousands of never-before-seen young stars in the galaxy.
They originally thought the stars were just cosmic dust.