Topic: Exploring the Carina Nebula By Touch

[sam]

The Hubble Space Telescope's dramatic glimpse of the Carina Nebula, a gigantic cloud of dust and gas bustling with star-making activity, is a glorious feast for the eyes. Energetic young stars are sculpting a fantasy landscape of bubbles, valleys, mountains, and pillars. Now this celestial fantasyland has been brought into view for people who cannot explore the image by sight. Max Mutchler, a research and instrument scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, and Noreen Grice, president of You Can Do Astronomy LLC and author of several tactile astronomy books, have created a touchable image of the Carina Nebula that is engaging for everyone, regardless of their visual ability.

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2010/11/

[Clive]

It's so annoying that this spectacular nebula is only visible to observers in the southern hemisphere.  It's much bigger and brighter than the Orion nebula which we can see throughout the winter months from the UK.  The Carina nebula is home to the most enigmatic star in our entire galaxy - namely Eta Carinae.  The star is more than 100 times the mass of the Sun which makes it one of the largest stars we know.  It's currently the most luminous star in the Galaxy and it fluctuates alarmingly in brightness, sometimes rivaling the brightest star in the sky but it's just below naked eye visibility at the moment.  It's thrown out two gigantic lobes of dust and gas and is becoming quite unstable.  It will end its life in a supernova explosion during the next few thousand years.

[sam]

yes, worth a trip to a nice southern observatory at some point...

[Clive]

I should say!     Imagine starting all over again with a brand new sky to find your way around!  How exciting would that be?   

[Simon]

It looks like there's a giant footprint on that image! 

[Clive]

I for one welcome our new Carina overlords.