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                           Astronomy Picture of the Day   
      
       Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our   
         fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation   
                       written by a professional astronomer.   
      
                                  2022 February 9   
      
                Eta Car: 3D Model of the Most Dangerous Star Known   
      Video Credit: NASA, CXC, April Hobart; Text: Michael F. Corcoran (NASA,   
                               Catholic U., HEAPOW)   
      
      Explanation: What's the most dangerous star near earth? Many believe   
      it's Eta Carinae, a binary star system about 100 times the mass of the   
      Sun, just 10,000 light years from earth. Eta Carinae is a ticking time   
      bomb, set to explode as a supernova in only a few million years, when   
      it may bathe the earth in dangerous gamma rays. The star suffered a   
      notorious outburst in the 1840s when it became the brightest star in   
      the southern sky, only to fade to obscurity within decades. The star   
      was not destroyed, but lies hidden behind a thick, expanding,   
      double-lobed structure called the Homunculus which now surrounds the   
      binary. Studies of this ejecta provide forensic clues about the   
      explosion. Using observations from NASA satellites we can now visualize   
      the 3D distribution of the shrapnel, all the way from the infrared,   
      through optical and UV, to the outermost shell of million-degree   
      material, visible only in X-rays.   
      
                          Tomorrow's picture: open space   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.   
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                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
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