Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]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.

                              2020 February 15
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                           Carina Nebula Close Up
       Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]Hubble, [6]ESO, Amateur Data;
      Processing & Copyright: [7]Robert Gendler & [8]Roberto Colombari

   Explanation: A jewel of the southern sky, the [9]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
   [10]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. [11]This gorgeous telescopic close-up reveals
   remarkable details of the region's central glowing filaments of
   [12]interstellar gas and obscuring [13]cosmic dust clouds in a field of
   view nearly 20 light-years across. The Carina Nebula is home to young,
   extremely massive stars, including the still enigmatic and violently
   variable [14]Eta Carinae, a star system with well over 100 times the
   mass of the Sun. In the processed composite of space and ground-based
   image data a dusty, two-lobed [15]Homunculus Nebula appears to surround
   Eta Carinae itself just [16]below and left of center. While Eta Carinae
   is likely on the verge of a supernova explosion, X-ray images indicate
   that the Great Carina Nebula has been a veritable [17]supernova
   factory.

                Tomorrow's picture: planetary nebula portrait
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    Authors & editors: [29]Robert Nemiroff ([30]MTU) & [31]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([32]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [33]Specific rights apply.
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                A service of: [35]ASD at [36]NASA / [37]GSFC
                           & [38]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2002/Eta-HST-ESO-New-LL.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. https://www.esa.int/
   5. https://hubblesite.org/
   6. https://www.eso.org/
   7. http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/
   8. https://www.facebook.com/roberto.colombari
   9. http://messier.seds.org/xtra/ngc/n3372.html
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090826.html
  11. http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/Eta-HST-ESO-New.html
  12. http://www-ssg.sr.unh.edu/ism/what1.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100919.html
  14. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eta_Carinae
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140717.html
  16. https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2007/16/2115-Image.html
  17. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2011/carina/
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200214.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  22. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  27. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=200215
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200216.html
  29. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  30. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  31. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  32. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  35. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/
  37. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  38. http://www.mtu.edu/