The Carina Nebula

The Carina Nebula is a large bright nebula that surrounds several clusters of stars. It contains two of the most massive and luminous stars in our Milky Way galaxy, Eta Carinae and HD 93129A. Located 7500 light years away, the nebula itself spans some 260 light years across, about 7 times the size of the Orion Nebula, and is shown in all its glory in this mosaic. It is based on images collected with the 1.5-m Danish telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory.

Being brighter than one million Suns, Eta Carinae (the brightest star in this image) is the most luminous star known in the Galaxy, and has most likely a mass over 100 times that of the Sun. It is the closest example of a luminous blue variable, the last phase in the life of a very massive star before it explodes in a fiery supernova. Eta Carinae is surrounded by an expanding bipolar cloud of dust and gas known as the Homunculus ('little man' in Latin), which astronomers believe was expelled from the star during a great outburst seen in 1843.

Crediti:

ESO/IDA/Danish 1.5 m/R.Gendler, J-E. Ovaldsen, C. Thöne, and C. Feron.

Riguardo l'immagine

Identificazione:etamosaicnm2
Tipo:Osservazione
Data di rilascio:Giovedì 03 Dicembre 2009 23:18
Grandezza:5828 x 3524 px

Riguardo all'oggetto

Nome:Carina Nebula
Tipo:Milky Way : Nebula
Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster
Distanza:7500 Anni luce
Constellation:Carina
Categoria:Nebulae

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Coordinate

Position (RA):10 44 13.07
Position (Dec):-59° 38' 29.10"
Field of view:38.34 x 23.19 arcminutes
Orientazione:Il Nord è a 44.0° a destra della verticale