Getting to know the Carina Nebula is actually a very interesting discussion. The VISTA telescope was one of the first to capture this nebula.
The VISTA telescope itself is a space fleet belonging to ESO with an infrared camera or VIRCAM. As the name suggests, this telescope is tasked with conducting a more detailed survey of all the objects in the galaxy.
The Carina Nebula is one of many objects that the Vista Telescope can see. Let’s take a closer look at this nebula.
Get to know the Carina Nebula more closely, here are the facts!
Nebulae are dust in outer space. So far, several types of nebulae have been identified and named, one of which is the Carina Nebula.
The name of these nebulae comes from the place where they were found, namely the constellation Carina. Its exact location is in the Carina-Sagittarius arm, a short spiral arm in the Milky Way.
The Carina Nebula is one of the largest and brightest nebula types so that it can be observed without using Earth instruments.
This nebula was first discovered in 1752 by a French astronomer named Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille.
He discovered the existence of the Carina Nebula while observing at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.
giant star house
The Carina Nebula is far away from Earth. The location of this nebula is at a distance of about 7,500 light from Earth.
For its size, the Carina Nebula spans 300 light years.
Despite its enormous size, this nebula manages to host over 14,000 stars.
Some of these stars are gigantic sizes such as Eta Carinae and many open clusters of stars in class O to Wolf Rayet.
become a star making factory
In addition to being a place for giant stars, the Carina Nebula also produces many new stars.
Therefore, many people know the Carina Nebula as a Star Formation Factory or Star Birth Trough.
The VISTA telescope managed to find several stars hidden behind the nebula’s hot gas and dark dust.
The number of old stars that become supernovae makes the explosive material to form new stars.
Another thing the VISTA telescope has observed inside the Carina Nebula is the intense presence of radiation from a massive star in a cosmic cloud bubble.
Then due to intense radiation, the surrounding gas starts glowing brightly. However, in other regions, a dark cloud of dust envelops the newly formed young star.
There is an interesting phenomenon from within the Carina Nebula, namely the battle between stars and nebula dust. Young stars will be covered in dust which will make them difficult to see.
However, in the end stars still win because the radiation they give off is enormous, especially young ones. You can easily recognize the Carina Nebula by the red color they emit.
