July 21, 1997
Somewhere above you, light is arriving from places so distant their names feel like poetry.
In the Center of the Keyhole Nebula
Birthday · July 21, 1997
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published July 21, 1997. Credit: D. Malin (AAO), AATB, UKS Telescope. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Stars, like people, do not always go gentle into that good night. The above Keyhole Nebula results from dying star Eta Carinae's violently casting off dust and gas during its final centuries. Eta Carinae is many times more massive than our own Sun, and should eventually undergo a tremendous supernova explosion. Eta Carinae emits much light in colors outside the human visible range. This past week, X-ray emission from Eta Carinae was verified by the orbiting Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer to be periodic, peaking every 85.1 days. This, along with a previously hypothesized 5.52 year period, indicates that the dying star might be part of a multiple star system.
Image credit: D. Malin (AAO), AATB, UKS Telescope