Collection: Carina Nebula Complex

Carina Nebula Complex – Jewel of the Southern Sky

The Carina Nebula Complex is one of the largest and most luminous star-forming regions in the Milky Way Galaxy; spanning over 300 light-years, it is a massive, highly active stellar nursery located about 7,500 light-years from Earth in the southern sky. The complex includes the Carina Nebula itself, NGC 3372, and the Gabriela Mistral nebula, IC 2599, named after the Chilean poet.

The region is a maelstrom of activity where tens of thousands of stars are born. The intense radiation and energetic winds from hot, young stars carve out massive cavities and sculpt glowing clouds of gas and dust. At the heart of the complex lies Eta (η) Carinae, a massive, highly unstable star system, one of the most massive stars in the Milky Way and prone to violent outbursts.

In standard astronomical images, with North up, East is conventionally placed to the left. This appears reversed compared to a terrestrial map (where East is right) because one is looking up at the sky from below, rather than down at the ground.

This image shows the whole Eta Carinae complex, (top facing north, left facing east) centred on η (Eta) Carinae, a binary star system at least 120 times the mass of the Sun and five million times as luminous as the Sun, which, with other star clusters, shapes and illuminates the Nebula. Collections: Carina Nebula Complex _ Southern Celestial Hemisphere — This image shows the whole Carina Nebula complex, (top facing north, left facing east) centred on η (Eta) Carinae, a binary star system at least 120 times the mass of the Sun and five million times as luminous as the Sun, which, along with the dense star-forming region (Carina OB1) of which η Carinae is a part, and along with stars in the Trumpler clusters, shapes and illuminates the Carina Nebula.

An enlarged view of the centre of the Carina Nebula; image captured with RedCat 71, narrowband filters and ASI2600mm camera. Collections: Carina Nebula Complex — An enlarged view of the centre of the Carina Nebula.

Seen in this further enlarged view is the Keyhole Nebula, a small dark cloud of cold molecules and dust seen in black to the right (west) of η Carinae. At 45° upwards from the Keyhole Nebula beyond a light-blue space is Trumpler 14, an open cluster of about 2000 stars; image captured with RedCat 71. Collections: Carina Nebula Complex — Seen in this further enlarged view is the Keyhole Nebula, a cloud of cold molecules and dust seen in black and white to the north (up) and west (right) of η Carinae. At 45° upwards from the Keyhole Nebula beyond a light-blue space is Trumpler 14, an open cluster of about 2000 stars.

This image homes in on η Carinae to demonstrate surrounding it, although difficult to observe in this rather poor image, is the oval-shaped Homunculus Nebula, believed to have been ejected in an enormous outburst that was observed in1841 which briefly made η (Eta) Carinae the second-brightest star(s) in the sky (remember, this happened some 7,500 years before 1841, the light-year distance of the Carina Nebula); also, pointing out from the bottom (south) of the Keyhole Nebula, what is called the Defiant Finger, a small Bok globule in the Keyhole Nebula - Bok globules are small, isolated, and extremely dense cold clouds of interstellar gas and dust that act as cocoons for stellar birth, often containing forming stars; image captured with RedCat 71. Collections: Carina Nebula Complex — A further enlarged view homing in on the star η Carinae, with the Keyhole Nebula to the north (up) and west (right) of η Carinae.

Homunculus Nebula, hourglass shape surrounding the Eta (η) Carinae star system, composed of gas and dust ejected by the Eta (η) Carinae star system during a massive outburst observed between 1838 and 1845, and expanding at 2.1 million km/hour. Collections: Carina Nebula Complex — The Homunculus Nebula is the faint hourglass shape spreading each side of the Eta (η) Carinae star system, slightly down to the left and up to the right; it is composed of gas and dust ejected by the Eta (η) Carinae star system during a massive outburst observed between 1838 and 1845; the cloud is about a light-year long and expands outwards at 2.1 million km/hour.

A rotated view of the Carina Nebula, NGC 3372. Collections: Carina Nebula Complex — A rotated view of the Carina Nebula, NGC 3372.

Eta Carinae (η Carinae, η Car) stars, centre of Carina Nebula. Collections: Carina Nebula Complex — This is another view of η Carinae star system and the Homunculus Nebula; “Homunculus” is Latin for “little man,” a name given to it in the 1950s by Argentine physicist Enrique Gaviola, who studied its unique shape.

Eta Carinae (η Carinae, η Car) stars and Keyhole Nebula above and to right. Collections: Carina Nebula Complex — A closer view of η Carinae, with the Keyhole Nebula to right.

Star cluster family north-west of Carina Nebula (NGC 3372), including NGC 3324, Trumpler 15, Loden 153, Loden 156, NGC 3293 and IC 2581; 10 million years old and physically connected. Collections: Carina Nebula Complex — Star cluster family north-west of Carina Nebula (NGC 3372), including NGC 3324, Trumpler 15, Loden 153, Loden 156, NGC 3293 and IC 2581; 10 million years old and physically connected.

Gabriela Mistral Nebula (NGC 3324), emission nebula and star-forming region 7,500 light-years distant. Nicknamed for its resemblance to the Chilean Nobel Prize-winning poet, its cosmic dust and gas clouds resemble a human face in profile; inverted with Adobe Photoshop.

My alternative interpretation of the "Cosmic Cliffs" with the image taken at the south part of the Gabriela Mistral nebula and rotated through 180°. Collections: Carina Nebula Complex — This is my own interpretation of the “Cosmic Cliffs” with the image taken at the south part of the Gabriela Mistral nebula and rotated through 180°.

This is an image of the “Cosmic Cliffs” taken on the face-side (west side) of the Gabriela Mistral Nebula (IC 2599) [RA: 10:36:59.0; Dec: -58:37:0.0] and rotated anticlockwise by 90°. Noted for being among the first celestial vistas captured by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and also translated to sound.