AAO image reference AAT 9. « Previous || Next »
Top left is NE. Image width is about 41 arc min
Image and text © 1985-2002, Anglo-Australian Observatory, photograph by David Malin.
The brightest part of the Milky Way, as seen by the unaided eye, lies in the southern constellation Carina. Here there are an unusually large number of young, hot stars. Their radiation is rich in energetic ultraviolet light. Many of these stars were born within the spectacular Carinae nebula, seen here. The nebula is a cloud of glowing gas composed mostly of hydrogen. It excited by ultrviolet light from the embedded stars. This dostictive emission radiation is responsible for the red colour. About a quarter of the nebula is made of helium gas, the second most abundant element in the universe after hydrogen, and all the other chemical elements account for only a few percent of the total mass.
The brightest star in the nebula is known as eta Carinae. This remarkable object is one of the most luminous and most massive stars known. Click here for bigger image.
Entry from NGC 2000.0 (R.W. Sinnott, Ed.) © Sky Publishing Corporation, 1988:
NGC 3372 Nb 10 43.8 -59 52 s Car 120. ! great neb, eta CarRelated Images
AAT 32. Eta Carina and the Keyhole nebula
AAT 37. Eta Carina and Trumpler 14
AAT 45. The Homunculus around Eta Carina
UKS 6. The Great Nebula in Carina, NGC 3372
UKS 6a. The Great Nebula in Carina, NGC 3372 (wide field)
For details of photographic exposure, search technical table by AAT reference number.
Image availability: Photo Print