5 replies to this topic

[BQ Octantis]

…the Orion Nebula wouldn't be much to look at. I just did some scaling of the Carina and Orion Nebulas against the Tarantula Nebula to compare the sizes of all three, and the Carina Nebula would definitely give the Tarantula Nebula a run for its money. I'm proud to call it one of our own!:

 

 

Conversely, if the Tarantula Nebula were as close as the Orion Nebula, it would span 80˚ across the sky…

 

Cheers,

 

BQ

Edited by BQ Octantis, 22 September 2019 - 02:43 AM.

[petert913]

Wow! Mind blown.....

[BQ Octantis]

Wow! Mind blown.....

You have no idea. How a nebula can span over 1800 light years in diameter is beyond comprehension. We need a reference point…let's say, the solar system, which is ~0.001 of a light year in diameter. So the Tarantula Nebula is a gaseous cloud well over a million times larger in diameter than the solar system. Crikey!

 

Then again, the whole universe easily fits into our collective imaginations…

 

BQ

[Tony Flanders]

You have no idea. How a nebula can span over 1800 light years in diameter is beyond comprehension.

There's a bunch like that. NGC 604 in M33 is another true whopper.

 

But any way you look it at, it's pretty amazing that the Tarantula is not merely visible but prominent to the unaided eye, despite the fact that it's an a whole 'nother galaxy.

[BQ Octantis]

There's a bunch like that. NGC 604 in M33 is another true whopper.

 

But any way you look it at, it's pretty amazing that the Tarantula is not merely visible but prominent to the unaided eye, despite the fact that it's an a whole 'nother galaxy.

All very true (though I've never laid eyes on NGC 604). But the real irony is that it's easier for me to image Tarantula at 160,000 light years away than Orion at 1,300. But Carina is the real winner for me—at 8,500 light years, not only is it prominent to the unaided eye, but I can make out its basic structure unaided. And it's the only DSO target for which I've observed stark color contrast through the eyepiece (between the Homunculus Nebula and the surrounding Keyhole Nebula). So I'd be ready challenge any LMC denizen (bogans!) to a face off between the two. Just send them my way…

 

BQ

Edited by BQ Octantis, 22 September 2019 - 08:20 AM.

[Eddgie]

Even it it was as close to us as Orion, it would still fit inside Barnard's Loop and have room for the Rosette Nebula. 

 

There are some really big nebula out there.  I can't remember the designation of the big nebula around Zeta Oph, but it is a monster too but even it might fit inside of Barnard's Loop.  The first time I saw Barnard's Loop, the size really stunned me. You could put whole constellations inside of it.

 

But I understand what you are saying.. In real size, Tarantula is indeed a large nebula but in terms of apparent size, even if you moved it close, it would still be dwarfed by some of these other big nebula.