¿ 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. 2021 May 26 [2]A picture of the clouds expelled by the supergiant star AG Carina as taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. The Outburst Clouds of Star AG Car Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]STScI; Processing: [6]Judy Schmidt; Text: [7]Anders Nyholm Explanation: What created these unusual clouds? At the center of this [8]2021 Hubble image sits [9]AG Carinae, a supergiant star located about 20,000 light-years away in the southern constellation [10]Carina. The star's emitted power is over a million times that of the Sun, making [11]AG Carinae one of the most luminous stars in our [12]Milky Way galaxy. AG Carinae and its neighbor [13]Eta Carinae belong to the scarce [14]Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) class of stars, known for their rare but [15]violent eruptions. The nebula that surrounds [16]AG Car is interpreted as a remnant of one or more such [17]outbursts. This nebula measures 5 [18]light-years across, is estimated to contain about 10 [19]solar masses of gas, and to be at least 10,000 years old. [20]This Hubble image, taken to commemorate [21]Hubble's 31st [22]launch [23]anniversary, is the first to capture the whole nebula, offering a [24]new perspective on its structure and dust content. The [25]LBVs represent a late and [26]short stage in the lives of some [27]supergiant stars, but [28]explaining their restlessness remains a [29]challenge to humanity's understanding of [30]how massive stars work. Your questions answered: [31]Tonight's Blood Supermoon Total Lunar Eclipse Tomorrow's picture: open space __________________________________________________________________ [32]< | [33]Archive | [34]Submissions | [35]Index | [36]Search | [37]Calendar | [38]RSS | [39]Education | [40]About APOD | [41]Discuss | [42]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [43]Robert Nemiroff ([44]MTU) & [45]Jerry Bonnell ([46]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [47]Specific rights apply. [48]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [49]ASD at [50]NASA / [51]GSFC & [52]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2105/AgCar_HubbleSchmidt_2212.jpg 3. https://www.nasa.gov/ 4. http://www.esa.int/ 5. https://www.stsci.edu/ 6. https://geckzilla.com/ 7. https://iau.org/administration/membership/individual/19512/ 8. https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2021/news-2021-017 9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AG_Carinae 10. http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/car-p.html 11. https://youtu.be/y2nRNj3HWlc 12. http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/galaxy.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190220.html 14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_blue_variable 15. http://etacar.umn.edu/etainfo/history/ 16. https://stsci-opo.org/STScI-01F3TM6S205C081QEV3EEPVRAA.mp4 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200311.html 18. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/ 19. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/overview/ 20. https://www.flickr.com/photos/geckzilla/51154318699/ 21. https://esahubble.org/projects/Hubble31/ 22. https://youtu.be/MbwMM7y7qMw 23. https://illuminateduniverse.org/2021/04/23/hubble-at-thirty-one-trips-around-the-sun/ 24. https://illuminateduniverse.org/2021/05/20/flight-to-ag-carinae/ 25. https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.03144 26. https://arxiv.org/abs/1908.02323 27. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supergiant_star 28. https://www.news.ucsb.edu/2018/019169/notorious-lumnious-blue-variable-stars 29. https://image.shutterstock.com/image-photo/grey-mongrel-cat-lies-next-260nw-1722677581.jpg 30. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_evolution#Massive_stars 31. https://moon.nasa.gov/news/161/super-blood-moon-your-questions-answered/ 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210525.html 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 36. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 39. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 40. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 41. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=210526 42. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210527.html 43. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 44. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 45. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 46. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 47. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 48. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 49. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 50. https://www.nasa.gov/ 51. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 52. http://www.mtu.edu/