The Eta Carinae Nebula, Michael Watson

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Description

Photographed near Dubbo (New South Wales, Australia)

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This is one of the most beautiful and striking gas clouds in the sky, although the colours can be seen only in long exposure photographs. It is four times as large as and brighter than the Orion Nebula, but it is not as well known because it can be seen only from the southern hemisphere.

The nebula surrounds the star Eta Carina, one of the most massive stars that has been extensively studied, and one of the most curious. When the star was first catalogued by Edmund Halley in 1677, it was of modest 4th magnitude. Since that time is has brightened and faded a number of times in a more-or-less periodic cycle of about 5 years. In 1827 it became the second brightest star in the sky; by the 1900s it had faded to 8th magnitude. Now it is a 5th magnitude star, just visible to the unaided eye.

For more information about the nebula, click here:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carina_Nebula

... and for more about the star Eta Carinae, click here:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eta_Carinae

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Nikkor 80-400 mm lens on Nikon D810 camera body, mounted on Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer tracking mount.

400 mm focal length; ISO 3200; six stacked 60-second exposures at f/6.3

Stacked in Registar; processed in Photoshop CS6

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The Eta Carinae Nebula, Michael Watson