Stars Similar to Eta Carinae in Nearby Galaxies

Researchers found likely Eta twins in four galaxies by comparing the infrared and optical brightness of each candidate source. Infrared images from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope revealed the presence of warm dust surrounding the stars. Comparing this information with the brightness of each source at optical and near-infrared wavelengths as measured by instruments on Hubble, the team was able to identify candidate Eta Carinae-like objects. Top: 3.6-micron images of candidate Eta twins from Spitzer's IRAC instrument. Bottom: 800-nanometer images of the same sources from various Hubble instruments.

About the data

The HST data were taken from the following proposals: 7375 ; 12490 : N. Scoville (Caltech); J. Koda (Stony Brook); 9490 ; 13364 : K. Kunz (JHU); D. Calzetti (University of Massachusetts, Amherst); 9073 : J. Bregman (University of Michigan); 12513 : W. Blair (JHU)

The science team for these findings includes: R. Khan (GSFC and ORAU), S. Adams, K. Stanek, and C. Kochanek (Ohio State University), and G. Sonneborn (GSFC and ORAU). Archival HST data was obtained along with data from the Spitzer IRAC 3.6-micron instrument.