Posted on 06/09/2011 3:13:23 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
[Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Gendler (Processing), Ryan Hannahoe (Acquisition); Additional data from the ESO/Danish 1.5m telescope at La Silla, Chile (R.Gendler, J.-E.Ovaldsen, C.Thöne, C.Feron).] Explanation: A jewel of the southern sky, the Great Carina Nebula, also known as NGC 3372, spans over 300 light-years, one of our galaxy's largest star forming regions. Like the smaller, more northerly Great Orion Nebula, 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 portrait reveals remarkable details of the region's glowing filaments of interstellar gas and obscuring cosmic dust clouds. Wider than the Full Moon in angular size, the field of view stretches nearly 100 light-years across the nebula. 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 brightest star at the left, near the dusty Keyhole Nebula (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.
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This space is like a Chuck Lorre vanity card.
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After I rotated the image 90 degrees, it made a most excellent background for my iPhone.
:’)
Amazing what you can see when you zoom in...
Beautiful picture. Thanks for posting!
There’s one factory that the leftists can’t put out of business.
Keep on stellarfacturing, Great Carina Nebula!
Kinda stealin’ Joe’s thunder (and my lightning) there fieldmarshal.
Are you out of your Vulcan mind????
But that isn’t the worst of it. I was hoping I was IBTSTP (in before the star trek pic).
;-))
What is that? You didn’t borrow that from the gynecologist’s office???
Romulan warbird D'deridex class
Thank goodness. I worry sometimes.
Reminds me of my last trip to San Francisco. Except they stick them Ceti Eels not in your ears...
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