Last C , a massive binary system go supernova , discharge at least 10 times the mass of our Sun into space . NASA scientist have now create the first hi - Ra model of the dilate cloud bring forth by this iconic burst .
During the extravasation , which occurred between 1838 and 1845 ( at least from our perspective in the Hubble Bubble ; the object is site about 7,500 light - years aside ) , a Brobdingnagian gaseous shell was shoot into space . The resulting explosion , what we call Eta Carinae , went on to become the second - burnished star in our sky . The good time area now forms a twin - lob and dust - filled cloud known as the Homunculus Nebula . The spectacular star object is presently about one light - year long as it continues to elaborate at more than 1.3 mph ( 2.1 million km / h ) .
The new modelling was compiled using new observations made by the European Southern Observatory ’s Very Large Telescope and its ten - Shooter spectrograph over two nights in March 2012 . The team visualise near - infrared , visible and ultraviolet wavelengths along 92 freestanding swaths across the nebula ; it ’s considered the most complete spectral map to date . A software program called “ Shape ” was used to create the three-D modeling .
NASA explainsmore :
The new condition framework confirms several feature of speech identify by previous studies , admit pronounced holes located at the ends of each lobe and the absence of any extended molecular hydrogen emission from a dust skirt unmistakable in seeable light near the centre of the nebula . young features include curious arm - like protrusions emanating from each lobe near the dust skirt ; vast , deep trenches curving along each lobe ; and maverick divots on the side face away from Earth .
“ One of the questions we set up out to answer with this study is whether the Homunculus hold any embossment of the star ’s binary nature , since previous efforts to explicate its shape have usurp that both lobe were more or less identical and symmetric around their foresightful axis , ” explained team extremity Jose Groh , an astronomer at Geneva University in Switzerland . “ The new features strongly suggest that interaction between Eta Carinae ’s star helped influence the Homunculus . ”
Every 5.5 years , when their range carry them to their close approach , called periastron , the immense and brilliant ace of Eta Carinae are only as far apart as the average distance between Mars and the Dominicus . Both stars possess powerful gaseous outflows called stellar winds , which forever interact but do so most dramatically during periastron , when the dissolute nothingness from the smaller star carves a burrow through the denser wind of its companion . The open slant of this cavum nearly equalize the distance of the trench ( 130 degrees ) and the angle between the arm - like excrescence ( 110 degrees ) , indicate that the Homunculus likely continues to carry an impression from a periastron interaction around the time of the Great Eruption .
More atNASA .
Images : Image Credit : NASA ’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Ed Campion
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