Astronomy Picture of the Day

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                               2018 December 27
                                      [2]
                           The Great Carina Nebula
             Image Credit & Copyright [3] : Maicon Germiniani [4]

Explanation: A jewel of the southern sky, the Great Carina Nebula [5] , also
known as NGC 3372, spans over 300 light-years, one of our galaxy's [6]
largest star forming regions. Like the smaller, more northerly Great Orion
Nebula [7] , 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 close-up [8] reveals remarkable details of the region's central
glowing filaments of interstellar gas [9] and obscuring cosmic dust [10]
clouds. The field of view is over 50 light-years across. The Carina Nebula is
home to young, extremely massive stars, including the stars of open cluster
Trumpler 14 [11] (above and left of center) and the still enigmatic variable
Eta Carinae [12] , a star with well over 100 times the mass of the Sun. Eta
Carinae is the brightest [13]  star, centered here just below the dusty
Keyhole Nebula [14]  (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 [15] .

                 Tomorrow's picture: majestic island universe

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [27] (MTU [28] ) & Jerry Bonnell [29]
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1812/CarinaNebulaGerminiani.jpg
  [3] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [4] https://www.flickr.com/photos/147696734@N04/
  [5] http://messier.seds.org/xtra/ngc/n3372.html
  [6] ap110520.html
  [7] ap090826.html
  [8] https://www.flickr.com/photos/147696734@N04/2...
  [9] http://www-ssg.sr.unh.edu/ism/what1.html
  [10] ap100919.html
  [11] https://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1601/
  [12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eta_Carinae
  [13] http://heritage.stsci.edu/2007/16/supplementa...
  [14] ap060316.html
  [15] http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2011/carina/
  [16] ap181226.html
  [17] archivepix.html
  [18] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [19] lib/aptree.html
  [20] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apo...
  [21] calendar/allyears.html
  [22] /apod.rss
  [23] lib/edlinks.html
  [24] lib/about_apod.html
  [25] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?dat...
  [26] ap181228.html
  [27] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [28] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [29] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnel...
  [30] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [31] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [32] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Priv...
  [33] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [34] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [35] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [36] http://www.mtu.edu/

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