[Verginius Rufus]

What's the opposite of a "veritable supernova factory"? A fake supernova factory?

That Eta Carinae got the designation "eta" shows it was once much brighter than it is now--eta is the 7th letter in the Greek alphabet, but Carina is part of the wreckage of Argo. When the letters were bestowed, Argo was one constellation, so Eta Carinae was perceived to be the 7th-brightest star in the batch (which included Puppis and Vela, maybe one or two other constellations).

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks VR!