The Keyhole in the Carina Nebula
From NASA’s Astronomy
Picture of the Day
The dark dusty Keyhole
Nebula gets its name from its unusual shape. The looping Keyhole, in this featured
classic image by the Hubble Space
Telescope, is a smaller region inside the larger Carina Nebula.
Dramatic dark dust knots
and complex features are sculpted by the winds and
radiation of the Carina
Nebula's many massive and energetic stars.
In particular, the shape
of the dust cloud on the
upper left of the Keyhole Nebula may
stimulate the human imagination to appear similar to, for example, a superhero flying
through a cloud, arm up,
with a saved person in tow below.
The region lies about
7,500 light-years away in planet Earth's southern sky. The Keyhole Nebula was
created by the dying star Eta Carina , out
of the frame, which is prone to violent outbursts during its final centuries.
