Posted on 02/05/2024 12:45:49 PM PST by MtnClimber
Explanation: What's happening in the core of the Carina Nebula? Stars are forming, dying, and leaving an impressive tapestry of dark dusty filaments. The entire Carina Nebula, cataloged as NGC 3372, spans over 300 light years and lies about 8,500 light-years away in the constellation of Carina. The nebula is composed predominantly of hydrogen gas, which emits the pervasive red and orange glows seen mostly in the center of this highly detailed featured image. The blue glow around the edges is created primarily by a trace amount of glowing oxygen. Young and massive stars located in the nebula's center expel dust when they explode in supernovas. Eta Carinae, the most energetic star in the nebula's center, was one of the brightest stars in the sky in the 1830s, but then faded dramatically.
For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
Beautiful image.
L
A huge fish at top-center, swallowing a big bird.
Poor MtnClimber, working so hard to bring us these pics; and we turn them into Rorschach blots...
Wow.
Beautiful.
FTA: NGC 3372, spans over 300 light years and lies about 8,500 light-years away.
Gives you an idea how immense the universe is.
That gas cloud is nothing to the size of the galaxy let alone the universe.
Our star system was born out one such nebula and our star is one of trillions.
One day our descendants may see a passing nebula envelope us and we will see no other stars for millions of years.
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