2023-09-30 17:18:46
In the middle of the 19th century, astronomers observed a Great Eruption near what they call Eta Carinae. Some 7,500 light years from our Earth.
The enigmatic Eta Carinae system
Under this name are actually two massive stars hidden. 30 and even 90 times the mass of our Sun. Massive stars which were surprised, in the 1840s, ejecting a colossal quantity of material. On the order of 10 to 45 times the mass of our star. Revealing a pair of gas clouds that researchers have named the Homunculus Nebula.
The Great Eruption of Eta Carinae A was modeled by NASA with the help of Hubble and Chandra
Thanks to data sent back for 20 years by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers now know a little more regarding this Great Eruption which shook the Eta Carinae system. In particular, they discovered the trace of its shock wave.
The secrets of the Great Eruption of Eta Carinae
What researchers now say in The Astrophysical Journal, it’s the story of a double explosion — perhaps the result of the merger of two stars in what was originally a triple system. First an ejection of a small quantity of fast, low density gas. Then a slower ejection of dense gas whose shock wave heated projected materials to millions of degrees well before the Great Eruption to finally form the Homunculus Nebula.
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