Chandra Release - August 26, 2014

Visual Description: Eta Carinae

The Chandra X-ray Observatory image of the star system Eta Carinae is dominated by a large, bright nebula in red-orange and blue, which resembles a swirling vortex or maelstrom. Surrounding this central feature are numerous small, sparkling white and multicolored dots, sitting on a black background.  The inner blue source of light is surrounded by the red-orange fluffy looking material like it's being hugged.  This Chandra image of Eta Carinae shows low energy X-rays in red, medium energy X-rays in green, and high energy X-rays in blue. Most of the emission comes from low and high energy X-rays. Astronomers reported extremely volatile behavior from Eta Carinae in the 19th century, when it became very bright for two decades, outshining nearly every star in the entire sky. This event became known as the "Great Eruption."  The blue point source is generated by the colliding winds, and the diffuse blue emission is produced when the material that was purged during the Great Eruption reflects these X-rays. The low energy X-rays farther out show where the winds from the two stars, or perhaps material from the Great Eruption, are striking surrounding material. This surrounding material might consist of gas that was ejected before the Great Eruption.