Eta Carinae: The Great Eruption of a Massive Star

Eta Carinae, or Eta Car, is famous for a brilliant and unusual outburst, called the "Great Eruption", observed in the 1840s. This visualization presents the story of that event and examines the resulting multiwavelength emissions and three-dimensional structures surrounding Eta Car today.
Massive stars are known to have major outbursts. Eta Car, one of the most massive stars known, expelled about 10% of its mass in the Great Eruption, creating a small nebula, called the Homunculus Nebula, around it. Images taken in different wavelengths of light reveal different structures, each providing more information about the outbursts of Eta Car.
For this visualization, astronomers and artists have used NASA observations to model both the close-up and wide views of this massive and eruptive star. The Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory have observed the nested layers of gas and dust around Eta Car using visible, ultraviolet, and x-ray light, as well as in the Hydrogen Alpha emission line. The Spitzer Space Telescope provides a larger view of the Carina Nebula, along with Eta Car’s dominant position within this star-forming region.
This visualization is presented by the AstroViz Project of NASA’s Universe of Learning. Viewers gain appreciation for how the observations from two centuries ago connect to the resulting structures seen today. Full 360-degree 3D views help to assemble a complete mental model that aids interpretation of the NASA observations. Eta Car serves as a notable example of the outbursts in the dying stages of massive stars.
Credits: J. Olmsted, D. Player, L. Hustak, A. Pagan, J. DePasquale, G. Bacon, F. Summers (STScI), R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC), NASA, ESA
Images: A. Fujii, J. Morse (BoldlyGo Inst), N. Smith (U Arizona), Hubble SM4 ERO Team, NASA, ESA, STScI, JPL-Caltech, CXC, ESO, NOAO, AURA, NSF
Music: “Interstellar Wanderer”, Joseph DePasquale, CC BY-NC 4.0

[@SabaDhutt]

That zoom in was almost like a spiritual experience. Truly awesome.

[@ImahSillyGirl]

i felt tears welll up!

[@ckn5954]

@@ImahSillyGirl and

[@prabakaranpr6371]

@@ckn5954 ഓക്കേ

[@FrankSummers]

Hi everyone, I'm the leader of the team that created this video. Thank you for watching, and I'll answer your questions about it as time permits.

[@FrankSummers]

Eta Carinae is about 7,500 light-years away.

[@FrankSummers]

The Homunculus Nebula is about 0.6 light-years across. Hence, each lobe is about 0.3 ly in diameter. To expand to 0.3 ly in 200 years requires an average velocity of about 500 km/s ( roughly a million miles an hour).

[@johnebyrde9834]

Well done, an excellent presentation! Thanks

[@xstar9567]

@@FrankSummers Okay, so do you know How big was Eta Carinae during that Great Eruption? I Heard about 1400 Rsol and 4900 Rsol

[@duanehirini2078]

So it would take around 154 days for the expanding cloud to reach pluto from the sun. Thats fast!

[@Erik-rp1hi]

That is the best CGI yet of a star going though a time period that is exciting to see and understand and it is the real deal. I still find Hubble's Ultra Deep Field image as the most incredible.

[@BeeNotDismayed]

It's absolutely dazzling. Thank you for the excellent model

[@alaskajdw]

Fantastic production

[@iankendall3077]

I'm 55 been into astronomy 40+ years..eta c is my favourite neb.truly awesome....what's the webb..gonna show us....I can't wait...thank you so much🖖👍🙏

[@suricatakat6476]

Very cool! Nicely done on this one--short and sweet, with a lot of cool information. Eta Carina is utterly fascinating.

[@carlcargill6081]

Thank you. That was both intellectually and artistically satisfying, and adds to my sense of wonder of the cosmos.

[@serapozdikis1654]

Both the star and the video itself are amazing. Thank you.

[@TheLacedaemonian300]

This is why we do science! I just hope that Eta Car blew itself up a long time ago, and that the light from the supernova will hit earth at any moment. I could die happy then. Thank you to all involved in making this, you are the true heroes of the universe.

[@harshvaghanii]

It's more than 7000 light years ahead it can't do any wrong to our solar system

[@EuDouArteHipHopArtCulture21]

Incredible, thank you One Love from Portugal.

[@bobsenior9218]

Brilliant. Thank you.

[@Birbface]

The Carina Nebula is so pretty!

[@jimwadleigh7118]

AWESOME. Exploding stuff.

[@amrikjohal1240]

Very good view.thanks.

[@013Bidou]

Incredibly well done , beautiful images and also very interesting comments . I was glued to my screen for a moment .Thank you

[@greatred2558]

Thank you for this

[@ClearAmbientSkies]

Fascinating! 🤩🤯

[@robertolarrea3917]

Que extraordinario video 👍👍👍👍

[@jamesshaffer206]

Wow, that cgi of the blast was amazing, this is an awesome way of learning about our universe. Thanks so much.

[@shirleybarkell1198]

Utterly Amazing

[@carlnapp4412]

Thanks a lot!

[@olorin4317]

Love it. Thank you NASA!

[@rusticthumper5500]

Thank you to the team at STSI. That was fantastic. For the last few months I had wondered what this star would look like if we could get JWST to look at it. Now I know it would be a useless to try. Considering how much IR light the star emits.

[@sanmusicstudio7639]

Amazing Hubble Space Telescope

[@mysteryofuniverse7008]

Nice

[@philw8049]

Fascinating stuff! Love the imagery. I am curious though. I am far from an expert, just someone who has been interested in space since I was a kid many years ago. It hasn’t gone supernova yet, so what processes are thought to have caused this huge explosion? I’ve never really heard of anything that could happen to a star, other then going Supernova, that could cause something like that!

[@xstar9567]

It's a because Eta Car is an example of an LBV - a really weird variable star

[@lilysceesawjeanmoonlight]

Absolutely luved it. It's amazing to think that all (In therory because there could be an exception to the notion that is beyond Human comprehension of thought!?!) Stars end their lives via this similar process. In death the is life "A star dies, ✨A new star is born" Higgs boson! The music 🎵🎶🎵 in this🎥 was spot on. Brilliantly attributed!¡!¡!

[@nurameliaadam]

η Car; the enigmatic ⭐

[@williamschwartz9283]

I'd love to have a better appreciation of the time and distance scales represented in these video clips. Does the depiction of the future collision of Andromeda and the Milky Way Galaxies take Billions of years? Tens of Billions? more? How fast do you have to be traveling to cross a galaxy in a matter of seconds? The numbers, even though hypothetical, would be fascinating to contemplate and would give a better understanding of what we're looking at.

[@christianfritzkowski]

Where can I download the Music Track?

[@Earthneedsado-over177]

So what is the size of the nebula?

[@paulvale2985]

Excellent video thanks. Super Nova in the next few million years? I'll get me Popcorn lol.

[@thomasgoodwin2648]

I can only imagine how rich those clouds must be with heavier elements. Ripe for mining or perhaps some day to form lively planets.

[@Laxmannram115]

Har Har Mahadev🔱

[@verioffkin]

wow

[@versantpowerastronomycente4949]

Need a fulldome version of this for planetariums!

[@FrankSummers]

If I can get permission to travel, I should be bringing a fulldome version of the 3D model spin to your planetarium for the MAPS conference in May. I've produced a preliminary version for AAS in Salt Lake, but that was cancelled.

[@versantpowerastronomycente4949]

@@FrankSummers that would be wonderful! Hope to see you here in Maine in May!

[@francescoabbo2107]

Telescopi Hubble?

[@AhyauCakep]

Thank God this thing is far away from us.

[@elgatoconbotas8518]

La creación es apabullante.

[@KaruBuilds]

my first comment, and gotta say best video i've watched so far

[@smartshaded]

😮

[@francescoabbo2107]

Spettacolare

[@CooManTunes]

If only I could buy space a beer and ask it some questions.

[@user-mr6xu9oh7h]

Awesome to. See my mighty gods hand at work

[@francescoabbo2107]

Quanti anni luce è distante dalla Terra

[@hubblespacetelescope]

7,500 light-years

[@francescoabbo2107]

Wow7,500 light year

[@williambednar7859]

I wonder how Astronomers explain why stars explode in hourglass shapes instead of spherical shapes.

[@justinwalker4475]

wow ..some lens o0

[@InsecureCreator]

How did I get here from a King Buffalo song.

[@godmeherbaba5607]

💖💖💘💘❤❤

[@ShadowGamingReal1]

I actually viewed the star system, the fact that a gamma ray from this star system would kill all of us is very scary

[@iambiggus]

Probably not. Estimates vary, but even a Long GRB from 4k lightyears wouldn't strip the ozone layer away completely. Thankfully, eta car is 7500 lys away.

[@jordisalvadobuque1803]

We will never know how powerful can be the known Universe... We are only seeing light side of it. Not anymore. Cause we are human beings, not anything else..... MYSTERIOUS WORLD. 🌐👍🐱⭐⭐⭐⭐💥💥

[@ranveerdavare2653]

They likes Shiva daamru

[@deepdas7350]

who has watched mahadev's damru??❤

[@StarGazer568]

There was no sense of scale. Perhaps you could add one.

[@Earthneedsado-over177]

I was expecting to see how many light years across the nebula was.

[@FrankSummers]

I answered your question in the replies to my comment. Basically, Eta Car is 7500 ly away, and the Homunculus is 0.6 ly across.

[@StarGazer568]

@@FrankSummers Thanks!

[@jyothikalikota]

Lord shiva Damaruka

[@boson2916]

Aroused my imagination, Subscribe!

[@pasqualecupi3614]

I SUMERI DELLA CALABRIA ® FACEBOOK GRAZIE

[@thecoolcarhd4402]

AND NO REAL PHOTO OR VIDEO EVIDENCE OF IT,insane

[@todanrg3]

There are plenty of real photos out there. Plus you can just grab a telescope and see it yourself

[@taufikbudiardi1430]

Two star marging?

[@deteodoru]

You guys are the worst thing ever for the newly legalied Canabis Industry because you show that study, knowlege and discipline can give one the same "Wow High" at no cost not any neuro/pulmonary damage. Ubdistorted reality is still the biggest high, especially when so well and enthusiastically explained. You oboth are exceptionl Homo sapiens...and I can say that as a life-long student of thr species. The world "professor" will never sound the same to me ever again. Thanks!

[@NeonsStyleHD]

Why do you say it's the brghtest object in the "night" sky? It's not night there. lol

[@rahulrai1530]

It is the brightest object in the night sky because it is the brightest object which we can see in the sky during the night, the Sun being the brightest during the day. The statement does not mean to convey that it is night there, of course.

[@BeeNotDismayed]

Blastomere

[@Samirahmed-oi7vb]

Eta carine more ike eat a car

[@Estabanwatersaz]

Why are we reading this 👎👎👎

[@Earthneedsado-over177]

Just read the captions out loud.