File:Carina_Nebula_by_Harel_Boren_(151851961,_modified).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Carina Nebula
Sign in to saveAlso known as Great Nebula in Carina, Eta Carina Nebula, C92, New General Catalogue 3372, NGC 3372, NGC3372
H II region in the constellation Carina
The Carina Nebula is a vast cloud of gas and dust located in the constellation Carina, where new stars are actively forming. It's an important target for astronomers studying how stars are born and develop throughout the universe.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Right ascension
- 10 45 08.5
- Declination
- −59 ° 52 ′ 04 ″
- Distance
- ~8,500 ly (~2,600 pc )
- Apparent magnitude v
- +1.0
- Apparent dimensions v
- 120 × 120 arcmins
- Constellation
- Carina
- Radius
- ~230 ly (~70 pc)
- Notable features
- Eta Carinae Keyhole Nebula Many open clusters & dark nebulae
- Designations
- NGC 3372, ESO 128-EN013, GC 2197, h 3295, Caldwell 92
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Constellation
- Carina
- Image
- Eta small Giuseppe Donatiello (18835023732).jpg
Show 9 more facts
- discoverer or inventor
- Nicolas Louis de Lacaille
- apparent magnitude
- 3.0
- Commons category
- Carina Nebula
- catalog code
- MSH 10-5-07
- topic's main category
- Category:Carina Nebula
- time of discovery or invention
- 1751-00-00
- right ascension
- 161.07917
- epoch
- J2000.0
- declination
- -59.88917
via Wikidata · CC0
~13 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Carina Nebula or Eta Carinae Nebula (catalogued as NGC 3372; also known as the Great Carina Nebula) is a large, complex area of bright and dark nebulosity in the constellation Carina, located in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way galaxy. The nebula is approximately 8,500 light-years (2,600 pc) from Earth.
The nebula has within its boundaries the large Carina OB1 association and several related open clusters, including numerous O-type stars and several Wolf–Rayet stars. Carina OB1 encompasses the star clusters Trumpler 14 and Trumpler 16. Trumpler 14 is one of the youngest known star clusters at half a million years old and contains stars like the O2 supergiant HD 93129A. Trumpler 16 is the home of many extremely luminous stars, such as WR 25 and the Eta Carinae star system. Trumpler 15, Collinder 228, Collinder 232, NGC 3324, and NGC 3293 are also considered members of the association. NGC 3293 is the oldest and furthest from Trumpler 14, indicating sequential and ongoing star formation.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Carina Nebula” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.