Carina Nebula

E59350

The Carina Nebula is a vast, active star-forming region in the Milky Way known for its towering gas and dust pillars and dramatic young stellar clusters.

Aliases (2)


Statements (54)

Predicate Object
instanceOf H II region
emission nebula
giant molecular cloud complex
star-forming region
ageRangeOfYoungStars less than a few million years
alsoKnownAs Carina Nebula
surface form: "Great Carina Nebula"

NGC 3372
angularSize about 2 degrees
apparentMagnitude about 1.0
bestSeenIn austral autumn and winter
catalog New General Catalogue
contains Collinder 228
Collinder 232
Eta Carinae
Herbig–Haro objects
Carina Nebula
surface form: "Keyhole Nebula"

Trumpler 14
Trumpler 15
Trumpler 16
Wolf–Rayet stars
bipolar jets from young stars
dark globules
dense pillars of gas and dust
ionization fronts
massive O-type stars
photodissociation regions
protoplanetary disks
young massive star clusters
discoveryStatus visible to the naked eye and known since pre-telescopic times
distanceFromEarth approximately 2,300 parsecs
approximately 7,500 light-years
dominantExcitationSource ultraviolet radiation from massive stars
hasFeature bright emission filaments
cavities blown by massive stars
expanding bubbles of ionized gas
regions of triggered star formation
towering pillars sculpted by stellar winds
locatedIn Carina constellation
Milky Way
mass several hundred thousand solar masses of gas and dust
observedBy Chandra X-ray Observatory
Hubble Space Telescope
James Webb Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
observedIn X-ray wavelengths
infrared wavelengths
optical wavelengths
partOf Sagittarius Arm
surface form: "Carina–Sagittarius Arm"
roleInAstrophysics laboratory for feedback from massive stars
laboratory for massive star formation
laboratory for triggered star formation
spectralType strong H-alpha emission
starFormationActivity very high
visibleFrom Southern Hemisphere

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Carina Nebula alsoKnownAs Carina Nebula
this entity surface form: "Great Carina Nebula"
Carina Nebula contains Carina Nebula
this entity surface form: "Keyhole Nebula"
Orion Arm contains Carina Nebula