Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2020 February 15

                           Carina Nebula Close Up
      Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, ESO, Amateur Data; Processing &
                Copyright: Robert Gendler & Roberto Colombari

   Explanation: A jewel of the southern sky, the Great Carina Nebula, also
   known as NGC 3372, spans over 300 light-years, one of our galaxy's
   largest star forming regions. Like the smaller, more northerly Great
   Orion Nebula, the Carina Nebula is easily visible to the unaided eye,
   though at a distance of 7,500 light-years it is some 5 times farther
   away. This gorgeous telescopic close-up reveals remarkable details of
   the region's central glowing filaments of interstellar gas and
   obscuring cosmic dust clouds in a field of view nearly 20 light-years
   across. The Carina Nebula is home to young, extremely massive stars,
   including the still enigmatic and violently variable Eta Carinae, a
   star system with well over 100 times the mass of the Sun. In the
   processed composite of space and ground-based image data a dusty,
   two-lobed Homunculus Nebula appears to surround Eta Carinae itself just
   below and left of center. While Eta Carinae is likely on the verge of a
   supernova explosion, X-ray images indicate that the Great Carina Nebula
   has been a veritable supernova factory.

                Tomorrow's picture: planetary nebula portrait
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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