Nebulae : NGC-3372 : Carina Nebula

Photo : N. Smith (U California, Berkeley) et al : NASA ESA STScI/AURA

What skulking shapes hide in the haze of dense molecular clouds? The Carina Nebula's knots of molecular gas and particles are so very thick, that they are dimmed. Even though that's the case, juxtaposed to the Earth's atmosphere, these clouds are usually not even close to being as dense.

The Great Nebula in Carina houses changing nebula and immense stars. One of the brightest stars of the nebula in the 1830s was Eta Carinae. Sadly, Eta attenuated severely.

Above is a section of the most detailed picture of the Carina Nebula. In this image the dark molecular clouds are especially notable. The constellation of Carina is around 7,500 light-years away, and in it lies the Carina Nebula, which is over 300 light-years wide itself!

Nebulae

Unnamed Nebulae