Tour: Visualization Explores A Massive Star's Great Eruption

Eta Carinae is famous for a brilliant and unusual outburst, called the "Great Eruption", observed in the 1840s. Since 1999 astronomers have been using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to reveal new information about the nature of Eta Carinae and through the X-rays in generates.

A new visualization presents the story of that event and examines the resulting multiwavelength emissions and three-dimensional structures surrounding Eta Carinae today. For this visualization, astronomers and artists have used NASA observations from three different telescopes — Chandra, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Spitzer Space Telescope — to model both the close-up and wide views of this massive and eruptive star. Data from different wavelengths of light reveal different structures, each providing more information about the outbursts of Eta Carinae.

Massive stars are known to have major outbursts. Eta Cariane is one of the most massive stars astronomers know about. It expelled about 10% of its mass in the Great Eruption, creating a small nebula called the Homunculus Nebula around it.

This visualization is presented by the AstroViz Project of NASA's Universe of Learning. Viewers gain appreciation for how the observations from two centuries ago connect to the resulting structures seen today. Full 360-degree 3D views help to assemble a complete mental model that aids interpretation of the NASA observations. Eta Car serves as a notable example of the outbursts in the dying stages of massive stars. The 3D models in the visualization are a combination of science knowledge and artistic license.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.