Eta Carinae
Luminous blue variable · Eta Carinae
One of the most massive and luminous stars in the Galaxy
A colossal, unstable binary whose primary is among the most luminous stars known, shrouded in the Homunculus Nebula it ejected during its 19th-century Great Eruption. It is a prime candidate to detonate as a supernova or hypernova.
Illustration from its stellar type, not a photograph
100 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
4.0 million ×
as bright as the Sun
240 R☉
radius (the Sun = 1)
7,500 ly
from Earth
It pours out about 4.0 million times the Sun’s light. Its light has been travelling 7,500 years to reach us, so you see Eta Carinae as it was 7,500 years ago.
Source · View on Wikidata
It lives in
Milky Way
Barred spiral galaxy.
Other notable stars in Milky Way
AlnilamBlue supergiantVY Canis MajorisRed hypergiantAlnitakHot blue supergiantDenebBlue-white supergiantMintakaHot blue giant multiple starAntaresRed supergiant
Stars of similar brightness
Melnick 42O-type supergiant (O2 If)3.6 million ×VFTS 682Wolf-Rayet star (WN5h)3.2 million ×R136a2Wolf-Rayet star (WN5h)5.2 million ×R136a1Wolf-Rayet star (WN5h)7.2 million ×HD 269810O-type giant (O2 III)2.2 million ×HD 5980Wolf-Rayet + blue-variable system2.2 million ×
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→