Fact Sheet
Timebomb
Eta Carinae, one of the most massive stars in our region of the galaxy, is ticking away toward a powerful explosion. Sometime within the next million years or so -- and perhaps much sooner -- the star will blast itself to bits as a supernova. From its distance of 7,500 light-years, it will far outshine the full Moon in Earth's night sky. This Hubble Space Telescope image shows that the star has expelled two big blobs of gas into space, so that Eta Carinae itself is hidden from view. Older waves of gas form the fainter red cloud around the hourglass-shaped nebula. [NASA/STScI]
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