Key facts
- Category
- Nebulae
- Object class
- Star-forming nebula
- Host
- Milky Way
- Scale fact
- 300 lymaximum extent
- Composition
- Ionized hydrogen, molecular gas, dust, embedded young star clusters
Carina Nebula
300 lymaximum extent
Details
The Carina Nebula is one of the Milky Way’s largest and most dramatic star-forming regions. It is a turbulent complex of glowing gas, dark dust, newborn stars, and young clusters, and it contains some of the most massive and luminous stars known, including Eta Carinae.
The Carina Nebula is a roughly 300-light-year complex of ionized gas, molecular clouds and young clusters. It contains several exceptionally massive stars, including Eta Carinae, alongside regions where new stars remain embedded in dust.
Radiation, winds and past eruptions from those stars carve cavities and erode cloud surfaces. Denser pockets can be compressed while exposed material is dispersed, allowing astronomers to study both effects of massive-star feedback within the same region.
Links
- Editorial guides
- Universe journey
- Orion Arm
- Preset views
- Wikipedia
- Carina Nebula on Wikipedia
Size neighbors
Objects near Carina Nebula on the scale
On the logarithmic size axis, Carina Nebula falls between Omega Centauri and Tarantula Nebula. The band uses nearby Star-forming nebula records.
Shared physical scale
765ly
Sources
References for Carina Nebula
Measurements and descriptive context are compiled by the Scale of Space team from the references below. If you find an error, please let us know.
Continue with nearby objects or open the full scale.
About
Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.
Guides explain selected parts of that range, while focused views filter the objects by subject.