This magnificent cosmic cloud is one of the largest and brightest nebulae visible from Earth. It lies around 8,500 ly from Earth in the Carina-Sagittarius Arm and is four times larger and notably brighter than the Orion Nebula (av mag 1 vs 4). Its presence dominates the sky near the South Celestial Pole during the summer months and said brightness makes it a joy to image in either broadband or narrowband light.
At the heart of the nebula lies Eta Carinae, a massive and unstable system of at least two stars that is one of the brightest objects in the night sky. Big supernova candidate too apparently!
The nebula is a hotbed of stellar activity with massive pillars of gas and dust sculpted by the intense radiation and winds from nearby stars. Most attention naturally draws to the incredible region around Eta Carinae, the Keyhole / Mystic Mountain / Defiant Finger, and so on; but if you scan around anywhere in the Nebula there is interesting stuff going on! Exhibit A!
Closer....
Narrowband foraxx-ish colour blend with RGB stars.
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