Come on Eta Carinae… Explode Already!
Written by Fraser Cain
The death watch is on for Eta Carinae, a relatively nearby massive star that's set to explode as a supernova. The Chandra X-Ray Observatory delivered this beautiful photograph of the star and its surrounding nebula; layers of material that it's already shed in its death throes.
When it does explode, Eta Carinae is going to be spectacular. It's thought to have between 100 and 150 times the mass of our own Sun. Not only that, it's a mere 7,500 light years away. Its brilliant display of fireworks will rival the light of the full Moon, and should be easy to see in the middle of the day; you could read a book by it at night.
So when's it going to blow? Well, astronomers disagree on this point. The majority think that Eta Carinae has one final stage to go through, called a Wolf-Rayet star. Others think it's already passed this stage, and it's ready to go. It could explode tomorrow, or it could be 100,000 years away. Still, that's a blink of the eye cosmically speaking.
Original Source: Chandra News Release
Filed under: Chandra
April 20th, 2008 at 10:41 am
[...] of the Sun. And as star size estimates go, that's pretty accurate. And one interesting side note: Eta Carinae should explode pretty soon as one of the most spectacular supernovae humans have ever seen. But [...]
May 18th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
WOW…this is some great information. I hope I get to see the great fireworks of the explosion in my lifetime. But since the light would reach us 7,500 light years away, could there be any harmful rays too?
July 13th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
its axis is 45 degrees away from earth so it would not affect life