A spectacular nearby star explosion observed in 1843 is now thought to be a previously unknown type of explosion that leaves stars intact. Eta Carinae is a well studied energetic star, some 7,500 light-years away and within our Milky Way Galaxy. It is more than 100 times as massive as our sun, and is hot and incredibly bright. In cosmic terms, this unpredictable giant is considered to be in our backyard.
Using telescopes at Gemini South and CTIO in Chile, Dr. Nathan Smith, of the University of California, Berkeley, discovered previously unseen filaments of gas moving at five times the speed of the surrounding debris and catching up with the outer shell which was ejected 1,000 years ago.