Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2024 April 19 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. The Great Carina Nebula Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Demison Lopes Explanation: A jewel of the [5]southern sky, the [6]Great Carina Nebula is more modestly known as NGC 3372. One of our [7]Galaxy's largest star forming regions, it spans over 300 light-years. Like the smaller, more northerly [8]Great Orion Nebula, the [9]Carina Nebula is easily visible to the unaided eye. But at a distance of 7,500 light-years it lies some 5 times farther away. This stunning telescopic view reveals remarkable details of the region's glowing filaments of [10]interstellar gas and [11]obscuring cosmic dust clouds. The [12]Carina Nebula is home to young, extremely massive stars, including the still enigmatic variable [13]Eta Carinae, a star with well over 100 times the mass of the Sun. [14]Eta Carinae is the bright star above the central dark notch in this field and left of the [15]dusty Keyhole Nebula (NGC 3324). Tomorrow's picture: diamond in the sky __________________________________________________________________ [16]< | [17]Archive | [18]Submissions | [19]Index | [20]Search | [21]Calendar | [22]RSS | [23]Education | [24]About APOD | [25]Discuss | [26]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [27]Robert Nemiroff ([28]MTU) & [29]Jerry Bonnell ([30]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [31]Specific rights apply. [32]NASA Web Privacy, [33]Accessibility Notices A service of: [34]ASD at [35]NASA / [36]GSFC, [37]NASA Science Activation & [38]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2404/NGC3372_ETA CARINA_LOPES.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.instagram.com/lopes.astro/ 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210101.html 6. http://www.messier.seds.org/xtra/ngc/n3372.html 7. https://science.nasa.gov/resource/the-milky-way-galaxy/ 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240105.html 9. https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2007/news-2007-16.html 10. http://www-ssg.sr.unh.edu/ism/what1.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080528.html 12. https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1637/ 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230709.html 14. http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/etacar.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160814.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240418.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 20. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 25. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240419 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240420.html 27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 30. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 32. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 33. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 34. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 35. https://www.nasa.gov/ 36. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 37. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 38. http://www.mtu.edu/