File:Eta_Carinae.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Eta Carinae
Sign in to saveAlso known as η Carinae, η Car, eta Car, Hen 3-481, H 1044-59, HR 4210, LLNS 2725, LS 1868
stellar system in the constellation Carina
In the Vinony graph
Within Vinony's link graph, Eta Carinae is referenced by 255 other articles, and connects out to NGC 3576, orbital eccentricity and stellar classification.
It is catalogued under topics including Bayer objects, Binary stars and Bright Star Catalogue objects.
Its subject is documented across 49 Wikipedia language editions.
Key facts
- Constellation
- Carina
- Right ascension
- 10 45 03.591
- Declination
- −59 ° 41 ′ 04.26 ″
- Apparent magnitude v
- −1.0 to ~7.6 , 4.2 (2018)
- Evolutionary stage
- Luminous blue variable
- Spectral type
- variable (LBV) + O ( WR ?)
- U b colour index
- −0.45
- B v colour index
- +0.61
- Variable type
- LBV & binary
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- eruptive variable star
- Constellation
- Carina
- Distance from Earth
- 8000
- Radius
- 800
- Variable-star type
- luminous blue variable
- Image
- EtaCarinae.jpg
Show 16 more facts
- spectral class
- OBepec
- Commons category
- Eta Carinae
- catalog code
- WDS J10451-5941
- right ascension component of proper motion
- -11
- discoverer or inventor
- Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser
- absolute magnitude
- -8.6
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.9
- apparent magnitude
- 1.658
- declination component of proper motion
- 4.1
- radial velocity
- -25
- epoch
- J2000.0
- time of discovery or invention
- 1595-00-00
- color index
- 0.61
- on focus list of Wikimedia project
- Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
- right ascension
- 161.26474075372
- declination
- -59.6844587777
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Eta Carinae (η Carinae, abbreviated to η Car), formerly known as η Argus, is a stellar system containing at least two stars with a combined luminosity greater than five million times that of the Sun, located around 7,500 light-years (2,300 parsecs) distant in the constellation Carina. Previously a 4th-magnitude star, it brightened in 1837 to become brighter than Rigel, marking the start of its so-called "Great Eruption". It became the second-brightest star in the night sky between 11–14 March 1843 before fading well below naked-eye visibility after 1856. In a smaller eruption, it reached 6th magnitude in 1892 before fading again. It has brightened consistently since about 1940, becoming brighter than magnitude 4.5 by 2014.
At declination −59° 41′ 04.26″, η Carinae is circumpolar from locations on Earth south of latitude 30°S (for reference, the latitude of Johannesburg is 26°12′S), and is not visible north of about latitude 30°N, just south of Cairo (which is at a latitude of 30°02′N).
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Eta Carinae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.