Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is
featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2007 October 27

The Great Carina Nebula

Credit & Copyright: Robert Gendler and Stephane Guisard
Explanation: A jewel of the southern sky, the Great Carina Nebula, aka NGC 3372, spans over
300 light-years, one of our galaxy's largest star forming regions. Like the smaller, more
northerly Orion Nebula, the Carina Nebula is easily visible to the naked eye, though at a
distance of 7,500 light-years it is some 5 times farther away. This stunning telescopic view
reveals remarkable details of the region's glowing filaments of interstellar gas and dark cosmic
dust clouds. 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 bright star left of the central dark notch in this field and just below the dusty Keyhole
Nebula (NGC 3324).
Tomorrow's picture: cloudy sky

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