Carina Nebula: Amazing Photos of a Colorful Cosmic Cloud

Eta Carina Nebula by Kamble

Astrophotographer Amit Kamble caught the Eta Carina Nebula on Feb. 19, 2015, Kamble is based in Auckland, NZ.

Hubble View of Carina Nebula

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured this view of a stellar nursery called the Carina Nebula, which lies 7,500 light-years from Earth, on Feb. 1-2, 2010. [Hubble Telescope Spies Majestic Space Mountains]

Dazzling Diamonds of Trumpler 14

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the star cluster Trumpler 14 in the Carina Nebula. One of the largest gatherings of hot, massive and bright stars in the Milky Way, this cluster houses some of the most luminous stars in our entire galaxy.

ALMA Panoramic View with Carina Nebula

ESO Photo Ambassador Babak Tafreshi captured this panoramic view of the antennas of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) under the clear sky over the Chajnantor Plateau, in the Chilean Andes. Image released Nov. 11, 2013.

14,000+ Stars

The Carina Nebula is a star-forming region in the Sagittarius-Carina arm of the Milky Way that is 7,500 light years from Earth. NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory has detected more than 14,000 stars in the region.

Carina Nebula Seen by Spitzer Telescope

Massive stars can wreak havoc on their surroundings, as can be seen in this view of the Carina nebula from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.

Carina Nebula Imaged by the VLT Survey Telescope

The spectacular star-forming Carina Nebula has been captured in great detail by the VLT Survey Telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory. This picture was taken with the help of Sebastián Piñera, President of Chile, during his visit to the observatory on June 5, 2012 and released on the occasion of the new telescope's inauguration in Naples on Dec. 6, 2012.

The Caterpillar, a Bok Globule in the Carina Nebula

A Bok globule nicknamed the "caterpillar" appears at the right.

Evaporating Blobs of the Carina Nebula

The Great Nebula in Carina itself spans about 30 light years, lies about 7,500 light years away, and can be seen with a small telescope toward the constellation of Keel (Carina).

Carina Nebula Infrared Image from ESO's Very Large Telescope

This panorama of the Carina Nebula, a region of massive star formation in the southern skies, was taken in infrared light using the HAWK-I camera on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile and released Feb. 8, 2012. Many previously hidden features, scattered across a spectacular celestial landscape of gas, dust and young stars, have emerged.