In the mid-19th century, astronomers observed a large eruption near Eta Carinae. About 7,500 light-years from our Earth.
The enigmatic Eta Carinae system
This name actually hides two massive stars. 30 and even 90 times the mass of our sun. Massive stars that were surprised in the 1840s and ejected a colossal amount of matter. On the order of 10 to 45 times the mass of our star. Revealing a pair of gas clouds that researchers have dubbed the Homunculus Nebula.
The Great Eruption of Eta Carinae A was modeled by NASA using Hubble and Chandra
Thanks to 20 years of data returned from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers now know a little more about this major outburst that shook the Eta Carinae system. In particular, they discovered the trail of his shock wave.
The secrets of the great eruption of Eta Carinae
What the researchers now tell in the Astrophysical Journal is the story of a double explosion – possibly the result of the merger of two stars in what was originally a triple system. First, a small amount of a fast, low-density gas is ejected. Then there was a slower ejection of dense gas, the shock wave of which heated the projected material to millions of degrees long before the Great Eruption, eventually forming the Homunculus Nebula.