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Collection:
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NASA Great Images in Nasa Collection
Collection
NASA Great Images in Nasa Collection
Collection
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Title:
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Light and Shadow in the Carina Nebula
Title
Light and Shadow in the Carina Nebula
Title
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Full Description:
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Previously unseen details of a mysterious, complex structure within the Carina Nebula (NGC 3372) are revealed by this image of the "Keyhole Nebula," obtained with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The picture is a montage assembled from four different April 1999 telescope pointings with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, which used six different color filters. The picture is dominated by a large, approximately circular feature, which is part of the Keyhole Nebula, named in the 19th century by Sir John Herschel. This region, about 8000 light-years from Earth, is located adjacent to the famous explosive variable star Eta Carinae, which lies just outside the field of view toward the upper right. The high resolution of the Hubble images reveals the relative three- dimensional locations of many of these features, as well as showing numerous small dark globules that may be in the process of collapsing to form new stars. Two striking large, sharp-edged dust clouds are located near the bottom center and upper left edges of the image. The former is immersed within the ring and the latter is just outside the ring. The pronounced pillars and knobs of the upper left cloud appear to point toward a luminous, massive star located just outside the field further toward the upper left, which may be responsible for illuminating and sculpting them by means of its high-energy radiation and stellar wind of high-velocity ejected material. These large dark clouds may eventually evaporate, or if there are sufficiently dense condensations within them, give birth to small star clusters. The Carina Nebula, with an overall diameter of more than 200 light- years, is one of the outstanding features of the Southern Hemisphere portion of the Milky Way. The diameter of the Keyhole ring structure shown here is about 7 light-years. These data were collected by the Hubble Heritage Team and Nolan R. Walborn (STScI), Rodolfo H. Barba' (La Plata Observatory, Argentina), and Adeline Caulet (France).
Full_Description
Previously unseen details of a mysterious, complex structure within the Carina Nebula (NGC 3372) are revealed by this image of the "Keyhole Nebula," obtained with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The picture is a montage assembled from four different April 1999 telescope pointings with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, which used six different color filters. The picture is dominated by a large, approximately circular feature, which is part of the Keyhole Nebula, named in the 19th century by Sir John Herschel. This region, about 8000 light-years from Earth, is located adjacent to the famous explosive variable star Eta Carinae, which lies just outside the field of view toward the upper right. The high resolution of the Hubble images reveals the relative three- dimensional locations of many of these features, as well as showing numerous small dark globules that may be in the process of collapsing to form new stars. Two striking large, sharp-edged dust clouds are located near the bottom center and upper left edges of the image. The former is immersed within the ring and the latter is just outside the ring. The pronounced pillars and knobs of the upper left cloud appear to point toward a luminous, massive star located just outside the field further toward the upper left, which may be responsible for illuminating and sculpting them by means of its high-energy radiation and stellar wind of high-velocity ejected material. These large dark clouds may eventually evaporate, or if there are sufficiently dense condensations within them, give birth to small star clusters. The Carina Nebula, with an overall diameter of more than 200 light- years, is one of the outstanding features of the Southern Hemisphere portion of the Milky Way. The diameter of the Keyhole ring structure shown here is about 7 light-years. These data were collected by the Hubble Heritage Team and Nolan R. Walborn (STScI), Rodolfo H. Barba' (La Plata Observatory, Argentina), and Adeline Caulet (France).
Full Description
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Date:
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02/03/2000
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NASA Center:
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Hubble Space Telescope Center
NASA_Center
Hubble Space Telescope Center
NASA Center
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Subject Category:
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Deep Space Studies
Subject_Category
Deep Space Studies
Subject Category
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Subject Category:
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Hubble
Subject_Category
Hubble
Subject Category
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Keywords:
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Space
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Keywords:
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Field
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Keywords:
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Camera
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Keywords:
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Telescope
Keywords
Telescope
Keywords
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Keywords:
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Wide
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Keywords:
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Planetary
Keywords
Planetary
Keywords
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Keywords:
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Hubble
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Keywords:
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HST
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Keywords:
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Nebula
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Keywords:
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WFPC
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Keywords:
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Carina
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Keywords:
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Keyhole
Keywords
Keyhole
Keywords
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Keywords:
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Eta
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Keywords:
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Carinae
Keywords
Carinae
Keywords
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Keywords:
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Milky
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Keywords:
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Way
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Audience:
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General Public
Audience
General Public
Audience
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facet_what:
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Camera 2
facet_what
Camera 2
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Earth
facet_what
Earth
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Carina
facet_what
Carina
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Wide Field Planetary Camera 2
facet_what
Wide Field Planetary Camera 2
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
facet_what
Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
facet_what
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facet_where:
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France
facet_where
France
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Argentina
facet_where
Argentina
facet_where
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facet_when:
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19th century
facet_when
19th century
facet_when
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facet_when:
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April 1999
facet_when
April 1999
facet_when
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facet_when:
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02-03-2000
facet_when
02-03-2000
facet_when
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facet_when_year:
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1999
facet_when_year
1999
facet_when_year
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facet_when_year:
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2000
facet_when_year
2000
facet_when_year
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Image #:
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PR00-06
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original_url:
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original_url
original_url
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UID:
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SPD-GRIN-GPN-2000-00 0880
UID
SPD-GRIN-GPN-2000-00 0880
UID
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Center:
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HSTI
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Center Number:
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PR00-06
Center_Number
PR00-06
Center Number
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GRIN DataBase Number:
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GPN-2000-000880
GRIN_DataBase_Number
GPN-2000-000880
GRIN DataBase Number
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Creator-Photographer:
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NASA
Creator-Photographer
NASA
Creator-Photographer
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Original Source:
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DIGITAL
Original_Source
DIGITAL
Original Source
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