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| The star called Eta Carinae, whose mass is about
100 times greater than our Sun's, is an excellent candidate for a full-blown supernova.
Historical records show that about 150 years ago Eta Carinae underwent an unusual outburst
that made it one of the brightest stars in the southern sky. Located in the Keyhole Nebula, this is the only star currently thought to emit natural laser light. |
| Photo credit: J. Morse (U. Colorado), K. Davidson (U. Minnesota) et al., WFPC2, Hubble Space Telescope, NASA. |
| Click on file name below to download this image: |
| eta.jpg | 477 x 435 pixels, 15 Kb |