THE CARINA NEBULA

The Carina Nebula can be seen in the sky in the southern hemisphere of Earth. It’s located in the Carina constellation within our own galaxy, the Milky Way. It is home to two of the largest stars in our galaxy which you can see clearly in the picture above, they’re called Eta Carinae and HD93219A. Great names I’m sure you’ll agree.

It’s four times as large as the Orion nebula and brighter than it also, although it remains less well known because you can only see it in the southern hemisphere. The picture above is only a small part of it – that’s how big this particular nebula is.

THE CONE NEBULA

The Cone Nebula is a lot darker and more foreboding than any of the other nebulas featured in this series. It’s actually part of a much larger cluster of nebula called The Christmas Tree Cluster and it lies within the Moncoeros constellation near a well known star called Betelgeuse – it’s the ninth brightest in the sky and distinctly reddish. The Cone Nebula is also called the Jesus Christ Nebula by a minority because it resembles a man praying, although I can’t really see that from this picture and feel like The Cone Nebula is a way cooler name for it anyway. Atheist yo.

SUPERNOVA EXPLOSION

Save the best until last. This is way better than the other photographs because it isn’t just a picture of a mysterious nebula but one of an actual intergalactic explosion. This explosion would have occurred roughly 7000 years ago and would have been the brightest star in the sky about 1000 years ago, although it has faded now. The cloud continues to expand to this day though and can be found in the Lupus constellation. Gnarly.

☛ More Space: What Happens When You Wring Out A Washcloth In Space?