The Tarantula Nebula is an H II region in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Tarantula Nebula has an apparent magnitude of 8. Considering its distance of about 160,000 light-years, this is an extremely luminous non-stellar object. Its luminosity is so great that if it were as close to Earth as the Orion Nebula, the Tarantula Nebula would cast visible shadows. In fact it is the most active starburst region known in the Local Group of galaxies.
