Eta Carinae, NaQirex

Eta Carinae

Eta Carinae, NaQirex

Eta Carinae

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Description

Eta Carinae - One of the jewels of the southern sky.  I never get tired of trying to capture a better image of this target.  In many ways it's an easy target to photograph, but I always find myself trying to catch the Homunculus nebula - which in this image is completely washed out.  8,500 light years away - a local neighbour - it is even BRIGHTER than the Great Orion Nebula.  First observed by Europeans in 1752 from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.  The bright star near the keyhole nebula, is Eta Carinae, a binary pair that orbit each other every 5.5 years.  The brighter of the pair is highly unstable, and is the only star known to produce ULTRA-VIOLET LASERS! (not even kidding).

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Eta Carinae, NaQirex