Eta Carinae Light Echo Region – March 10, 2003

The double-star system Eta Carinae, about 120 times more massive than the Sun, produced a spectacular outburst that was seen on Earth from 1837 to 1858. This image shows an area near Eta Carinae that is not illuminated by the double-star system's outburst. The image was taken in March 2003 with the NOAO Optical Astronomy Observatory's Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.

About the data

The science team studying the Eta Car light echo was led by A. Rest (STScI). This single-filter image of the light echo was taken in 2003 with the CTIO 4-m Blanco telescope.