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| Eta Carinae Starforming Region | Simulated Infrared View of Comet Tempel 1 (artist's concept) |
These false-color image taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows
the "South Pillar" region of the star-forming region called the Carina Nebula.
Like cracking open a watermelon and finding its seeds, the infrared telescope
"busted open" this murky cloud to reveal star embryos (yellow or white) tucked
inside finger-like pillars of thick dust (pink). Hot gases are green and foreground
stars are blue. Not all of the newfound star embryos can be easily spotted.
Though the nebula's most famous and massive star, Eta Carinae, is too
bright to be observed by infrared telescopes, the downward-streaming rays
hint at its presence above the picture frame. Ultraviolet radiation and stellar
winds from Eta Carinae and its siblings have shredded the cloud to pieces,
leaving a mess of tendrils and pillars. This shredding process triggered the
birth of the new stars uncovered by Spitzer.
The inset visible-light picture (figure 2) of the Carina Nebula shows quite a
different view. Dust pillars are fewer and appear dark because the dust is
soaking up visible light. Spitzer's infrared detectors cut through this dust,
allowing it to see the heat from warm, embedded star embryos, as well as
deeper, more buried pillars. The visible-light picture is from the National
Optical Astronomy Observatory.
Eta Carina is a behemoth of a star, with more than 100 times the mass of
our Sun. It is so massive that it can barely hold itself together. Over the
years, it has brightened and faded as material has shot away from its
surface. Some astronomers think Eta Carinae might die in a supernova
blast within our lifetime.
Eta Carina's home, the Carina Nebula, is located in the southern portion
of our Milky Way galaxy, 10,000 light-years from Earth. This colossal
cloud of gas and dust stretches across 200 light-years of space. Though
it is dominated by Eta Carinae, it also houses the star's slightly less
massive siblings, in addition to the younger generations of stars.
This image was taken by the infrared array camera on Spitzer. It is a
three-color composite of invisible light, showing emissions from wavelengths
of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 microns (orange), and 8.0
microns (red).
The movie begins with a visible-light picture of the southern region of our
Milky Way galaxy then slowly zooms into the area imaged by Spitzer.
