apod
06-17-08, 11:25 AM
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0806/etacar2_hst.jpg (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0806/etacar2_hst_big.jpg) Eta Carinae and the Homunculus Nebula
Credit: N. Smith, J. A. Morse (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/mailto: Jon dot A dot Morse at nasa dot gov) (U. Colorado (http://aps.colorado.edu/)) et al., NASA (http://www.nasa.gov/)
Explanation: How did the star Eta Carinae create this unusual nebula? No one knows for sure. About 165 years ago, the southern star Eta Carinae (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eta_Carinae) mysteriously became the second brightest star (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000611.html) in the night sky. In 20 years, after ejecting more mass than our Sun, Eta Car unexpected faded. This outburst appears to have created the Homunculus Nebula (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homunculus_Nebula), pictured above in a composite image from the Hubble Space Telescope (http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hubble_essentials/) taken last decade. Visible in the above image (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:EtaCarinae.jpg) center is purple-tinted light reflected from the violent star Eta Carinae itself. Surrounding this star are expanding lobes of gas laced with filaments of dark dust (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_dust). Jets bisect the lobes emanating from the central star. Surrounding these lobes are red-tinted debris (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1998AJ....116.2443M) captured only by its glow in a narrow band of red light. This debris is expanding most quickly of all, and includes streaming whiskers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiskers) and bow shocks (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001128.html) caused by collisions with previously existing material. Eta Car (http://www.aavso.org/vstar/vsots/0400.shtml) still undergoes unexpected outbursts (http://www.aavso.org/publications/alerts/alert301.shtml), and its high mass and volatility make it a candidate to explode in a spectacular supernova (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQvZojLY53o) sometime in the next few million years.
Source (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080617.html)
Credit: N. Smith, J. A. Morse (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/mailto: Jon dot A dot Morse at nasa dot gov) (U. Colorado (http://aps.colorado.edu/)) et al., NASA (http://www.nasa.gov/)
Explanation: How did the star Eta Carinae create this unusual nebula? No one knows for sure. About 165 years ago, the southern star Eta Carinae (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eta_Carinae) mysteriously became the second brightest star (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000611.html) in the night sky. In 20 years, after ejecting more mass than our Sun, Eta Car unexpected faded. This outburst appears to have created the Homunculus Nebula (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homunculus_Nebula), pictured above in a composite image from the Hubble Space Telescope (http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hubble_essentials/) taken last decade. Visible in the above image (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:EtaCarinae.jpg) center is purple-tinted light reflected from the violent star Eta Carinae itself. Surrounding this star are expanding lobes of gas laced with filaments of dark dust (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_dust). Jets bisect the lobes emanating from the central star. Surrounding these lobes are red-tinted debris (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1998AJ....116.2443M) captured only by its glow in a narrow band of red light. This debris is expanding most quickly of all, and includes streaming whiskers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiskers) and bow shocks (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001128.html) caused by collisions with previously existing material. Eta Car (http://www.aavso.org/vstar/vsots/0400.shtml) still undergoes unexpected outbursts (http://www.aavso.org/publications/alerts/alert301.shtml), and its high mass and volatility make it a candidate to explode in a spectacular supernova (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQvZojLY53o) sometime in the next few million years.
Source (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080617.html)