Eta Carinae

CXC Logo
Chandra X-ray
Observatory Center
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
60 Garden St. Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
http://chandra.harvard.edu
graphic
Eta Carinae: A star between 100 and 150 more massive than the Sun, about 7,500 light years from Earth.
(Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/GSFC/M.Corcoran et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI)

Caption: This composite image of Eta Carinae from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope shows the remnants of a massive eruption from the star during the 1840s. The X-ray data (yellow) show where material from that explosion has collided with nearby gas and dust. The optical data (blue) reveals material ejected from the star has formed a bipolar structure. Chandra detects a faint X-ray reflection off the inner optical nebula due to the collision of stellar winds between Eta Carinae and a suspected companion star.

Scale: Image is 2.2 by 1.7 arcmin

Chandra X-ray Observatory ACIS Image

CXC operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
graphic