New HST images of Eta Carinae and its surrounding nebulosity

摘要

Eta Carinae is a hot, massive, very luminous star which has erupted with episodes of greatly enhanced mass loss several times during the past few centuries. It is surrounded by an expanding shell of material, commonly known as the Homunculus, which was ejected during an outburst between 1830 – 1860. Fainter condensations are visible at greater distances. Their composition and radial proper motions suggest clumps of ejecta, some of which are contemporaries of the Homunculus, while others may have been expelled during earlier outbursts. Eta Carinae represents a dramatic although possibly brief phase of the interaction between a massive star in an advanced stage of evolution and its environment.