FLAMINGOS-2 image of the Tarantula Nebula

FLAMINGOS-2 image of the Tarantula Nebula (30 Doradus) located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to the Milky Way. A concentration of massive young stars in the very center of the cluster is causing the hydrogen gas to fluoresce due to excitation by ultraviolet light. This 3-color composite image combines the J-band (1.25 microns, blue), H-band (1.65 microns, green) and Ks-band (2.2 microns, red). The image has a total exposure (integration) of less than 10 minutes and a resolution of about 0.6 arcsecond.