Eta Carinae is the most massive and luminous star in our part of the Milky Way galaxy. It is a naked-eye object visible to observers in the southern hemisphere and the tropics. In the 1850's it briefly became the second brightest star in the sky. During this "great eruption," its total energy output rivaled that of a supernova as it ejected a shell containing several times the mass of the Sun and survived. Today we see that ejecta as the bipolar "Homunculus" nebula enshrouding the star itself.
On the following pages you will find a collection of information about Eta Carinae. The Treasury project will vouch for the accuracy of the information on our pages. However, be aware that we cannot control the content or accuracy of pages which we provide links to. As a result, a link from us should not necessarily be considered an endorsement of the information contained on a page external to our site.