At a mere 161,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Tarantula Nebula is the largest and brightest star-forming region in the Local Group, as scientists comfortingly call the galaxies nearest our Milky Way. The cloud is home to the hottest, most massive stars known. James Webb has sent back some great snaps.
The Tarantula gets its name from earlier images in which clouds of gas and stars appeared as dusty filaments resembling the legs of a hairy spider. The crisp results arriving from the Webb telescope's three high-resolution infrared devices make the name outdated, but the detailed information revealed will more than compensate the scientific community.
