The enduring mystery is why, when they can read the first few verses of the Bible and compare it to what science reveals about the universe, or planet and the life on it, do so many people still insist it is inerrant historical and scientific truths reveal by an inerrant, omniscience creator god?
There must be some deep psychological need to believe that absurdity to perform the necessary mental gymnastics required to dismiss the science and stick with the evidence free superstitions that the science overthrows, which can only be guessed at? A personal stake, as with the priests and grifters who wring a living out of their credulous followers, maybe? A justification for holding otherwise unacceptable prejudices for which an excuse can be found in the Bible, with careful scrutiny and maybe changing the meanings of a few words here and there, or by applying the brutal tribal social norms that the Bible prescribes? Whatever the cause, the self-delusion needed to retain belief against the deluge of counter-evidence, often caries kudos in religious societies such as in America's 'Bible Belt' states and inner city ghettos where admitting to doubt or even hinting at accepting the science can carry a heavy social penalty.
So, the tidal wave of scientific evidence keeps breaking on the rocks of ignorant stupidity reinforced by sea wall of social coercive control and psychological fear akin to an acute anxiety disorder or theophobic psychosis.
A scene from a star-forming factory shines in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week. This Hubble picture captures incredible details in the dusty clouds in a star-forming region called the Tarantula Nebula. What’s possibly the most amazing aspect of this detailed image is that this nebula isn’t even in our galaxy. Instead, it’s in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that is located about 160 000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa.
The Large Magellanic Cloud is the largest of the dozens of small satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way. The Tarantula Nebula is the largest and brightest star-forming region not just in the Large Magellanic Cloud, but in the entire group of nearby galaxies to which the Milky Way belongs.
The Tarantula Nebula is home to the most massive stars known, some of which are roughly 200 times as massive as our Sun. The scene pictured here is located away from the centre of the nebula, where there is a super star cluster called R136, but very close to a rare type of star called a Wolf–Rayet star. Wolf–Rayet stars are massive stars that have lost their outer shell of hydrogen and are extremely hot and luminous, powering dense and furious stellar winds.
This nebula is a frequent target for Hubble, whose multiwavelength capabilities are critical for capturing sculptural details in the nebula’s dusty clouds. The data used to create this image come from an observing programme called Scylla, named for a multi-headed sea monster from the Greek myth of Ulysses. The Scylla programme was designed to complement another Hubble observing programme called ULLYSSES (Ultraviolet Legacy Library of Young Stars as Essential Standards). ULLYSSES targets massive young stars in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, while Scylla investigates the structures of gas and dust that surround these stars.
The Large Magellanic Cloud is the largest of the dozens of small satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way. The Tarantula Nebula is the largest and brightest star-forming region not just in the Large Magellanic Cloud, but in the entire group of nearby galaxies to which the Milky Way belongs.
The Tarantula Nebula is home to the most massive stars known, some of which are roughly 200 times as massive as our Sun. The scene pictured here is located away from the centre of the nebula, where there is a super star cluster called R136, but very close to a rare type of star called a Wolf–Rayet star. Wolf–Rayet stars are massive stars that have lost their outer shell of hydrogen and are extremely hot and luminous, powering dense and furious stellar winds.
This nebula is a frequent target for Hubble, whose multiwavelength capabilities are critical for capturing sculptural details in the nebula’s dusty clouds. The data used to create this image come from an observing programme called Scylla, named for a multi-headed sea monster from the Greek myth of Ulysses. The Scylla programme was designed to complement another Hubble observing programme called ULLYSSES (Ultraviolet Legacy Library of Young Stars as Essential Standards). ULLYSSES targets massive young stars in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, while Scylla investigates the structures of gas and dust that surround these stars.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray, N. Bartmann (ESA/Hubble)
Music: Stellardrone - Ascent.
Music: Stellardrone - Ascent.
Overview^ The Tarantula Nebula (30 Doradus). The Tarantula Nebula, also known as 30 Doradus or NGC 2070, is a colossal and luminous H II region situated in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way [1].It is the latest image of the dusty clouds in a star-forming region called the Tarantula Nebula, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud - an associate nebula of our Milky Way galaxy. This nebula, a site of active star formation, contains some of the largest known stars, so 200 times the mass of our sun.
- Distance: Approximately 160,000–170,000 light‑years from Earth [2].
- Size: It spans between 650 to 1,860 light‑years in diameter, making it one of the largest and most energetic star-forming regions in the Local Group of galaxies [1].
A Stellar Nursery at Extreme Scale
- The Tarantula Nebula is recognised as the most vigorous star-forming region in our local cosmos—so active that, if it were as close as the Orion Nebula, it would be visible during the day and cast shadows [3].
- Its radiant energy stems primarily from the central star cluster NGC 2070, especially from the compact and luminous R136 cluster [4].
The Powerhouse: R136 Cluster
- R136 is the dense heart of NGC 2070, a super star cluster teeming with 72 O‑type and Wolf–Rayet stars within just a few light‑years [4].
- With an estimated mass of ~450,000 solar masses, the cluster may eventually evolve into a globular cluster [1].
- These stars are extremely young—**less than 2 million years old**—and dominate the region’s radiative and mechanical output [4, 5].
- Among them, R136a1 stands out as one of the most massive and luminous known stars, boasting a mass several hundred times that of the Sun [6].
A Laboratory of Stellar Feedback
- The Tarantula Nebula is a natural laboratory for studying the interplay between ultraviolet radiation, stellar winds, and supernova explosions in shaping interstellar matter.
- A nearby cluster, Hodge 301, is much older (20–25 Myr) and has already produced numerous supernovae, providing a stark contrast to the still-intact stars of R136 and offering insight into how both stellar winds and explosions influence gas dynamics [7].
- The outskirts of the nebula also include the famous Supernova 1987A, one of the closest and most studied supernovae in modern times [1].
Magnetic Fields and High-Energy Features
- Infrared observations by SOFIA reveal that magnetic fields play a pivotal role in stabilising gas flows near R136, helping to regulate star formation and resist turbulent or gravitational collapse [8].
- Deep X‑ray mapping by the Chandra telescope has catalogued thousands of individual sources—massive stars, compact remnants, pre‑main-sequence objects as well as diffuse hot plasma—highlighting the nebula’s complexity [9].
Summary
- Location: Large Magellanic Cloud (~160,000–170,000 ly away)
- Type & Size: Largest H II region in Local Group (up to ~1,860 ly across)
- Stellar Engine: NGC 2070 core with R136 super star cluster (<2 Myr old, ~450k M₀)
- Key Features: Massive stars (e.g., R136a1), magnetic field structures, X-ray bubbles
- Scientific Value: Insight into starburst physics: stellar feedback, evolution, structure
In professional terms, the Tarantula Nebula stands out as a benchmark for understanding starburst environments. It provides exceptional insights into stellar feedback, the life cycles of massive stars, and the structure and dynamics of ionised gas on a grand scale.
The image of course, utterly refutes the naive description of the Universe in the Bible, proving with as near certainty as logic allows, that the description could not have been written by an omniscience creator god, so rendering that idea absurd in the extreme.
The image is the Picture of the Week on the European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble website:
A sea monster and a TarantulaThe Tarantula Nebula is a vivid demonstration of just how vast, dynamic, and ancient the universe truly is. Science has revealed that this colossal star-forming region lies around 160,000 light-years away, in another galaxy entirely, and that the light we see today set out long before human civilisation existed. Within it, we find stars hundreds of times the mass of our Sun, extreme stellar winds, supernova remnants, and magnetic fields weaving through interstellar gas on a scale our ancestors could never have imagined. These discoveries are the result of painstaking observation, mathematical modelling, and technological ingenuity—none of which appears in the creation accounts of the Bible.
A scene from a star-forming factory shines in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week. This Hubble picture captures incredible details in the dusty clouds in a star-forming region called the Tarantula Nebula. What’s possibly the most amazing aspect of this detailed image is that this nebula isn’t even in our galaxy. Instead, it’s in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that is located about 160 000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa.
The Large Magellanic Cloud is the largest of the dozens of small satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way. The Tarantula Nebula is the largest and brightest star-forming region not just in the Large Magellanic Cloud, but in the entire group of nearby galaxies to which the Milky Way belongs.
Image Description: A nebula. The top-left is dense with layers of fluffy pink and greenish clouds. Long strands of green clouds stretch out from here; a faint layer of translucent blue dust combines with them to create a three-dimensional scene. A sparse network of dark dust clouds in the foreground adds reddish-black patches atop the nebula. Blue-white and orange stars, from our galaxy and beyond, are spread amongst the clouds.
The Tarantula Nebula is home to the most massive stars known, some of which are roughly 200 times as massive as our Sun. The scene pictured here is located away from the centre of the nebula, where there is a super star cluster called R136, but very close to a rare type of star called a Wolf–Rayet star. Wolf–Rayet stars are massive stars that have lost their outer shell of hydrogen and are extremely hot and luminous, powering dense and furious stellar winds.
This nebula is a frequent target for Hubble, whose multiwavelength capabilities are critical for capturing sculptural details in the nebula’s dusty clouds. The data used to create this image come from an observing programme called Scylla, named for a multi-headed sea monster from the Greek myth of Ulysses. The Scylla programme was designed to complement another Hubble observing programme called ULLYSSES (Ultraviolet Legacy Library of Young Stars as Essential Standards). ULLYSSES targets massive young stars in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, while Scylla investigates the structures of gas and dust that surround these stars.
The biblical view, rooted in the cosmology of Iron Age tribes, depicts a small, flat Earth under a solid dome, with stars as tiny lights fixed in that dome. It presents the Sun, Moon, and stars as having been created in a single day to serve human needs, in a universe only a few thousand years old. This picture is irreconcilable with what modern astronomy has revealed—not only the staggering distances and timescales involved, but also the sheer diversity and complexity of cosmic processes at work. The Tarantula Nebula alone is older than the entire biblical timeline of the universe, and the light we observe from it began its journey long before the supposed moment of creation according to literalist readings.
What we see in the Tarantula Nebula—and in the countless galaxies, nebulae, and clusters beyond—is not the work of a being who set the universe in motion with a few words over a working week, but the unfolding of physical laws over billions of years. This is a cosmos that does not revolve around us, that has been shaping itself through gravity, nuclear fusion, and stellar evolution long before life appeared on Earth. Such a reality could not have been described by people without telescopes, spectroscopy, or even the concept of galaxies, which is why the Bible contains none of it. The gap between the biblical worldview and what science has uncovered is not a matter of interpretation—it is a testament to the human, pre-scientific origins of those ancient texts.
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