Reprocessed data from January 2018.

Summarised from Wikipedia:

The Carina nebula is bright at magnitude +1.0, and spans an area of 120×120 arcminutes. Some of its interesting features are the Keyhole Nebula just above the centre of this this image, and the Homunculus Nebula (just to the left) surrounding the massive star system Eta Carinae. Eta Carinae contains at least two stars and has a combined luminosity more than five million times that of the Sun.

Previously a 4th-magnitude star, Eta Carina brightened in 1837 to become brighter than Rigel marking the start of the "Great Eruption" (resulting in the Homunculus Nebula). By March 1843 it became the second-brightest star in the sky fading well below naked eye visibility after 1856. In a smaller eruption, it reached 6th magnitude in 1892 before fading again. It has brightened consistently since about 1940. According to Wikipedia, its magnitute has recently increased from 4.8 in 2011, to 4.6 in 2013, then 4.3 in 2018.

Will Eta Carinae be the next to blow!

The overwhelming probability is that the next supernova observed in the Milky Way will originate from an unknown white dwarf or anonymous red supergiant, very likely not even visible to the naked eye. Nevertheless, the prospect of a supernova originating from an object as extreme, nearby, and well-studied as Eta Carinae arouses great interest.

When Eta Carinae eventually blows, it is not expected to produce a gamma-ray burst and its axis is not currently aimed near Earth. A gamma-ray burst in any case would need to be within a few light years of Earth to have any significant effects.

A typical core collapse supernova at the distance of Eta Carinae would peak at an apparent magnitude around −4, similar to Venus. At 7,500 light-years away it is unlikely to directly affect terrestrial lifeforms, as they will be protected from gamma rays by the atmosphere and from cosmic rays by the magnetosphere. The main damage would be restricted to the upper atmosphere, the ozone layer, spacecraft (including satellites), and any astronauts in space.