The Carina Nebula in infrared ligh
A wider view of the Carina Nebula
Digitized Sky Survey image of Eta Carinae Nebula
The Carina Nebula in the constellation of Carina
Videos
ESOcast 175 Light: Stars and Dust in the Carina Nebula (4K UHD)
3D view of the Carina Nebula
Zoom into the Carina Nebula
Pan across the Carina Nebula
ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world’s most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It has 15 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile and with Australia as a strategic partner. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its world-leading Very Large Telescope Interferometer as well as two survey telescopes, VISTA working in the infrared and the visible-light VLT Survey Telescope. ESO is also a major partner in two facilities on Chajnantor, APEX and ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. And on Cerro Armazones, close to Paranal, ESO is building the 39-metre Extremely Large Telescope, the ELT, which will become “the world’s biggest eye on the sky”.
Links
Jim Emerson
School of Physics & Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London
London, UK
Email: j.p.emerson@qmul.ac.uk
VISTA gazes into one of the largest nebulae in the Milky Way in infrared
The Carina Nebula, one of the largest and
brightest nebulae in the night sky, has been beautifully imaged by
ESO’s VISTA telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. By observing
in infrared light, VISTA has peered through the hot gas and dark dust
enshrouding the nebula to show us myriad stars, both newborn and in
their death throes.
About 7500 light-years away, in the constellation of Carina, lies a nebula within which stars form and perish side-by-side. Shaped by these dramatic events, the Carina Nebula is a dynamic, evolving cloud of thinly spread interstellar gas and dust.
The massive stars in the interior of this cosmic bubble
emit intense radiation that causes the surrounding gas to glow. By
contrast, other regions of the nebula contain dark pillars of dust
cloaking newborn stars. There’s a battle raging between stars and dust
in the Carina Nebula, and the newly formed stars are winning — they
produce high-energy radiation and stellar winds which evaporate and
disperse the dusty stellar nurseries in which they formed.
Spanning over 300 light-years, the Carina Nebula is one of
the Milky Way's largest star-forming regions and is easily visible to
the unaided eye under dark skies. Unfortunately for those of us living
in the north, it lies 60 degrees below the celestial equator, so is
visible only from the Southern Hemisphere.
Within this intriguing nebula, Eta Carinae
takes pride of place as the most peculiar star system. This stellar
behemoth — a curious form of stellar binary— is the most energetic star
system in this region and was one of the brightest objects in the sky in
the 1830s. It has since faded dramatically and is reaching the end of
its life, but remains one of the most massive and luminous star systems
in the Milky Way.
Eta Carinae can be seen in this image as part of the bright
patch of light just above the point of the “V” shape made by the dust
clouds. Directly to the right of Eta Carinae is the relatively small Keyhole Nebula
— a small, dense cloud of cold molecules and gas within the Carina
Nebula — which hosts several massive stars, and whose appearance has
also changed drastically over recent centuries.
The Carina Nebula was discovered from the Cape of Good Hope by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in the 1750s and a huge number of images have been taken of it since then. But VISTA
— the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy — adds an
unprecedentedly detailed view over a large area; its infrared vision is
perfect for revealing the agglomerations of young stars hidden within
the dusty material snaking through the Carina Nebula. In 2014, VISTA was
used to pinpoint nearly five million individual sources
of infrared light within this nebula, revealing the vast extent of this
stellar breeding ground. VISTA is the world’s largest infrared
telescope dedicated to surveys and its large mirror, wide field of view and exquisitely sensitive detectors enable astronomers [1] to unveil a completely new view of the southern sky.
Notes
Notes
[1] The Principal Investigator of the observing proposal which led to
this spectacular image was Jim Emerson (School of Physics &
Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, UK). His collaborators were
Simon Hodgkin and Mike Irwin (Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit,
Cambridge University, UK). The data reduction was performed by Mike
Irwin and Jim Lewis (Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit, Cambridge
University, UK).
More Information
More Information
ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world’s most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It has 15 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile and with Australia as a strategic partner. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its world-leading Very Large Telescope Interferometer as well as two survey telescopes, VISTA working in the infrared and the visible-light VLT Survey Telescope. ESO is also a major partner in two facilities on Chajnantor, APEX and ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. And on Cerro Armazones, close to Paranal, ESO is building the 39-metre Extremely Large Telescope, the ELT, which will become “the world’s biggest eye on the sky”.
Links
Contacts
Jim Emerson
School of Physics & Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London
London, UK
Email: j.p.emerson@qmul.ac.uk
Calum Turner
Public Information Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6670
Email: pio@eso.org
Public Information Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6670
Email: pio@eso.org
Source: ESO/News
