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Carina Nebula

Carina Nebula
This image shows a giant star-forming region in the southern sky known as the Carina Nebula and combines the light from three different filters, which traces emission from oxygen (blue), hydrogen (green), and sulfur (red). The color is also representative of the temperature in the ionized gas: blue is relatively hot and red is cooler. The picture is a composite of several exposures made in February 2000 with the Curtis Schmidt telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    10h 44m 12s.127
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -60° 16' 01".69
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Carina
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    7,500 light-years (2,300 parsecs)

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
    The science team studying the Eta Car light echo was led by A. Rest (STScI). This color image of a portion of the Carina Nebula was taken with the CTIO Curtis Schmidt telescope on February 25, 2000. The filter and color assignments are as follows: oxygen (blue), hydrogen (green), and sulfur (red).
  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    CTIO Curtis Schmidt telescope
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    February 25, 2000
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Carina Nebula
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Carina Nebula
  • Release Date
    February 15, 2012
  • Science Release
    Astronomers Watch Delayed Broadcast of a Powerful Stellar Eruption
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NOAO, AURA, NSF, and N. Smith (University of Arizona)

Downloads

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Carina Nebula
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

Blue: oxygen Green: hydrogen Red: sulfur

Compass and Scale
Compass and ScaleAn astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.

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Details

Last Updated
Mar 14, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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