Lights in the Sky - the Birth, Life and Death of the Stars

摘要

This Hubble Space Telescope image shows a huge pair of gas and dust clouds billowing outwards from the supermassive star Eta Carinae - debris ejected in a gigantic explosion which took place 150 years ago. Eta Carinae, estimated to be about a hundred times more massive than the Sun, is one of the most massive stars in our Galaxy and radiates as much power as five million suns. Although it survived this particular outburst. Eta Carinae will be a short-lived star which may well explode as a supernova in the relatively near future.