NGC 2080
Encyclopedia
NGC 2080 is a star-forming
region in the southern constellation
Dorado
. The nebula
belongs to the Large Magellanic Cloud
, a satellite galaxy
to our Milky Way
galaxy and is 168,000 light years distant. NGC 2080 was discovered by John Frederick William Herschel in 1834.
Star formation
Star formation is the process by which dense parts of molecular clouds collapse into a ball of plasma to form a star. As a branch of astronomy star formation includes the study of the interstellar medium and giant molecular clouds as precursors to the star formation process and the study of young...
region in the southern constellation
Constellation
In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....
Dorado
Dorado
Dorado is a constellation in the southern sky. It was created in the late 16th century and is now one of the 88 modern constellations. Its name refers to the dolphinfish , which is known as dorado in Spanish, although it has also been depicted as a swordfish...
. The nebula
Emission nebula
An emission nebula is a cloud of ionized gas emitting light of various colors. The most common source of ionization is high-energy photons emitted from a nearby hot star...
belongs to the Large Magellanic Cloud
Large Magellanic Cloud
The Large Magellanic Cloud is a nearby irregular galaxy, and is a satellite of the Milky Way. At a distance of slightly less than 50 kiloparsecs , the LMC is the third closest galaxy to the Milky Way, with the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal and Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy lying closer to the center...
, a satellite galaxy
Galaxy
A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias , literally "milky", a...
to our Milky Way
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
galaxy and is 168,000 light years distant. NGC 2080 was discovered by John Frederick William Herschel in 1834.
External links
- Hubble Sends Season's Greetings from the Cosmos to Earth – Hubble Space TelescopeHubble Space TelescopeThe Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
news release - APOD, 2001 October 31
- Release on NGC 2080 at ESA/Hubble