Chandra Release - January 25, 2022

Visual Description: Eta Carinae

Today's release features a visualization of a massive star, Eta Carinae,  which expelled about 10% of its mass in an event known as the Great Eruption observed in the 1840s. This eruption created a small nebula around the star, the Homunculus Nebula. Images taken in different wavelengths of light by the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and Spitzer Space Telescope have helped visualization specialists create a digital 3D model that can be rotated 360 degrees. This visualization is presented in a short video that shows the digital model being constructed, layer by layer.

 

The video begins with static images of each layer: Visible, Ultraviolet, Hydrogen, and X-ray, as well as an image combining all of the above wavelengths. When frozen in time, the Great Eruption resembles a peanut in the shell. The bulbous knobby shapes at either end represent the erupting nebula, while the star itself occupies the tapered space between them.

 

In the 2D image and 3D model of the Great Eruption in visible light, Eta Carinae is presented in mottled and veiny browns and tans. This 3D rendering is the base image onto which subsequent layers are added. As the model rotates, cloudy columns shooting out of the glowing core become evident.

 

As the 3D model continues to rotate, bright blue ultraviolet light is added to the visualization. This light blankets the peanut shape in a soft neon blue cloud. Thin shafts of blue light burst from the core, extending beyond the cloudy brown columns.

 

Next, the emission from hydrogen atoms is added to the still-rotating model. This resembles a translucent ball of red flames encircling the peanut shape and the blue ultraviolet light. Inside the cloud, the visual layer appears to glow.

 

Finally, an irregular cloud of purple X-ray light surrounds the red hydrogen emission. This cloud appears soft in texture, and is longer than it is wide, similar in shape to the glowing eruption at its core.