# The Tarantula Nebula as a template for extragalactic star forming regions from VLT/MUSE and HST/STIS

## TL;DR

This study uses VLT/MUSE and HST/STIS observations of NGC 2070 in the Tarantula Nebula to analyze its stellar content and nebular properties, highlighting challenges in modeling UV emission from massive stars and implications for extragalactic star formation studies.

## Contribution

It provides a comprehensive census of massive stars in NGC 2070 and examines the limitations of current population synthesis models in reproducing UV spectra of young star clusters.

## Key findings

- Strong HeII 1640 emission cannot be reproduced by current models.
- Age of NGC 2070 estimated at ~4.5 Myr from nebular analysis.
- Wolf-Rayet features mainly originate from R140, not R136.

## Abstract

We present VLT/MUSE observations of NGC 2070, the dominant ionizing nebula of 30 Doradus in the LMC, plus HST/STIS spectroscopy of its central star cluster R136. Integral Field Spectroscopy (MUSE) and pseudo IFS (STIS) together provides a complete census of all massive stars within the central 30x30 parsec^2 of the Tarantula. We discuss the integrated far-UV spectrum of R136, of particular interest for UV studies of young extragalactic star clusters. Strong HeII 1640 emission at very early ages (1-2 Myr) from very massive stars cannot be reproduced by current population synthesis models, even those incorporating binary evolution and very massive stars. A nebular analysis of the integrated MUSE dataset implies an age of ~4.5 Myr for NGC 2070. Wolf-Rayet features provide alternative age diagnostics, with the primary contribution to the integrated Wolf-Rayet bumps arising from R140 rather than the more numerous H-rich WN stars in R136. Caution should be used when interpreting spatially extended observations of extragalactic star-forming regions.