The Rhythm of the Spheres

The Great Carina Nebula is home to strange stars and iconic nebulas. Named for its home constellation , the huge star-forming region is larger and brighter than the Great Orion Nebula but less well known because it is so far south -- and because so much of humanity lives so far north . The featured image shows in great detail the northernmost part of the Carina Nebula . On the bottom left is the Gabriela Mistral Nebula consisting of an emission nebula of glowing gas (IC 2599) surrounding the small open cluster of stars ( NGC 3324 ). Above the image center is the larger star cluster NGC 3293 , while to its right is the emission nebula Loden 153. The most famous occupant of the Carina Nebula , however, is not shown. Off the image to the lower right is the bright, erratic, and doomed star known as Eta Carinae -- a star once one of the brightest stars in the sky and now predicted to explode in a supernova sometime in the next few million years.