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We had the clearest of nights for a long time last night; too good of an opportunity to be missed in fact so I went out to the backyard with my scope. Jupiter was high up in the North-East, only a few degrees next to M44 the beehive cluster, the Eta Carinae nebula was beautiful (even as naked-eye!) and Scorpio was rising from the East. Its amazing what a clear sky reveals; intricate details of the Eta Carinae nebula as I’ve never seen before.

The Eta Carinae star in the heart of the nebula itself, is the most luminous and mysterious star known in our galaxy. Between 1837 and 1856 it increased dramatically in brightness to become the brightest star in the sky except for Sirius, then later Eta Carinae faded to become a dim star invisible to the naked eye. Since the 1940’s, it has begun to brighten again, becoming visible to the naked eye. Observations indicate that Eta Carinae is an unstable star and it could explode as a supernova at any time.