Explanation: A jewel of the southern
sky, the Great Carina Nebula, also known as NGC 3372, spans over 300
light-years, one of our galaxy's largest star forming regions. Like the
smaller, more northerly Great Orion Nebula, the Carina Nebula is easily visible
to the unaided eye, though at a distance of 7,500 light-years it is some 5
times farther away. This gorgeous telescopic portrait reveals remarkable
details of the region's glowing filaments of interstellar gas and obscuring
cosmic dust clouds. Wider than the Full Moon in angular size, the field of view
stretches over 300 light-years across the nebula. The Carina Nebula is home to
young, extremely massive stars, including the still enigmatic variable Eta
Carinae, a star with well over 100 times the mass of the Sun. Eta Carinae is
the brightest star near the image center, just left of the dusty Keyhole Nebula
(NGC 3324). While Eta Carinae itself maybe on the verge of a supernova
explosion, X-ray images indicate that the Great Carina Nebula has been a veritable
supernova factory.
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