Although no bright naked-eye stars are associated with the Carina nebula now, 150 years ago there blazed forth here one of the most unusual and peculiar stars ever seen. The star is known as Eta Carinae and for a few months in 1843 it was the second or third brightest star in the sky. Since then it has faded and is today about 1000 times fainter than it was at its brightest, as the nebula it created during its outburst has cooled and become opaque. However, a gradual brightening over the last decade or so has again raised the star to naked-eye visibility, offering the interesting possibility of another spectacular outburst.

The whole region around Eta Carinae is rich in hot stars of which Eta is an extreme example and it is their combined radiation that produces the spectacular Carina nebula that dominates this picture, which was taken in blue light on the UK Schmidt Telescope in January, 1975. The nebula and its peculiar star are about 7000 light years distant.