Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Carina (Car)  ·  Contains:  Carina Nebula  ·  IC 2599  ·  NGC 3293  ·  NGC 3324  ·  NGC 3372  ·  Part of the constellation Carina (Car)  ·  The star t1 Car  ·  The star u Car  ·  The star w Car  ·  eta Car Nebula
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NGC 3372 The Eta Carina Nebula in SHO, Ian Parr
NGC 3372 The Eta Carina Nebula in SHO
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NGC 3372 The Eta Carina Nebula in SHO

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 3372 The Eta Carina Nebula in SHO, Ian Parr
NGC 3372 The Eta Carina Nebula in SHO
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NGC 3372 The Eta Carina Nebula in SHO

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Description

Located approximately 8500 light years in Carina resides a spectacularly violent HII region. Nestled in that is the second largest star in our galaxy which is destined for a short but furious life.
Actually a double star in an accelerating collapse cycle which, should it go super dooper nova, would be visible in daytime. When the dust settles this region would be be gone. 
Always a visual treat through a big wide field  31 Nagler eyepiece but the Homunculus is mind boggling on a good night with a small eyepiece on good 20"  with a 3-6mm Nagler Zoom.

Of all the objects I have viewed in the Southern Sky, nothing comes close to demonstrating so  clearly that the dynamic range of the human eye is better than most sensors.

The mottled lobs and jets are very distinct whereas sensors drown them out. Finding a good image of the Homunculus is, or was, not easy. Maybe a web cam on a big dob. Strange that few give it a red hot go on larger instruments. The entire nebula would have looked very different before the Great Eruption in the 1840s surrounded Eta Carinae with dust, drastically reducing the amount of ultraviolet light it put into the nebula. Over the last 20 years Eta Carina has brightened significantly as dust from the 1840's eruption clears and is now easily visible to the naked eye.

This is a perfect candidate for the Red Cat 71. On the AM5 with ZWO EAF and ASI Air it is really set and forget (almost). One more good night bumped me up to 7 hours of data which is always a good thing when the object has so much detail and such really wide dynamic range.

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NGC 3372 The Eta Carina Nebula in SHO, Ian Parr

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