74 ASTRONOMY • AUGUST 2020
BREAKTHROUGH
FROM TINY SEEDS GROW MIGHTY STARS
Astronomers often dream up fanciful names for the glowing gas clouds and sparkling star clusters that dot the sky. Yet this
stunning nebula is known only by a dreary catalog designation: LHA 120-N150. The small star-forming region lies on the
outskirts of the giant Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the Milky Way’s largest satellite galaxy. Scientists
targeted LHA 120-N150 and six other small LMC nebulae because they harbor still-developing massive stars that appear
isolated, despite the assumption such suns should form only in clusters. However, it looks like theorists can breathe easy: The
Hubble images reveal compact clusters of 100 or more nascent stars surrounding each of the massive stars. ESA/HUBBLE, NASA, I. STEPHENS