Cosmic Cliffs Eta Carina Nebula

The New Eta Carina NebulaNASA James Webb Space Telescope The Carina nebula is a turbulent cloud of gas, dust about 7,600 light-years from here, a birthplace and graveyard for some of the Milky Way’s hottest and most massive stars.The nebula is home to some of the most luminous and potentially explosive stars in the galaxy. Among them in particular is Eta Carinae, a double star system of which the stormy, primary member is as massive as 200 suns and is five million times the luminosity of the star that fills your daytime sky. Over the years, the primary star has emitted periodic eruptions as it has aged and quaked. At least 20 solar masses of gas and dust have been expelled into the nebula, which have obscured Eta Carinae itself, as well as the other denizens of the nebula. Publisher's Note:This image is extremely high resolution, and will produce tack-sharp images. For the full panorama image, see Cosmic Cliffs Panorama