Numerous folks who are passionate about science, tech, and astronomy, as well as ordinary people, remained speechless last year in July when the James Webb Space Telescope finally released its first full-color images of the Universe. It was an opportunity to see the Carina Nebula as we’ve never seen it before, among other impressive celestial structures.
But NASA now raises the stakes even more through its ‘Picture of the Day’ for May 1. For Labour Day, the space agency shows a new photo of the Carina Nebula for us to enjoy. The famous nebula can be seen in a different way, but although we don’t like to admit it, it’s impossible to represent the entire cosmic structure in question in a single image. The Carina Nebula is just too big! It measures about 230 light-years in its radius, and it’s home to numerous stars and nebulas.
The Carina Nebula is located 7,500 light-years away from Earth
If, by some chance, you were thinking of spending your vacation on the Carina Nebula, you should clearly call it off. There’s no known way to travel 7,500 light-years through space using our current technology. But at least we can feast our eyes on the nebula:
'Carina Nebula North' image from the #NASA_Apphttps://t.co/gbuRKnWYYc pic.twitter.com/y6OFqLb03q
— AstroBlanca (@aurora113311) May 1, 2023
NASA has also explained a few important aspects regarding the new photo:
Named for its home constellation, the huge star-forming region is larger and brighter than the Great Orion Nebula but less well known because it is so far south — and because so much of humanity lives so far north. The featured image shows in great detail the northernmost part of the Carina Nebula.
We should clearly pay a lot of respect to the Carina Nebula, as it remains one of the largest and most spectacular star-forming regions in the entire Milky Way galaxy. Hopefully, humanity will find a way to get there in the future.
