Lasers in Eta Carinae
Explanation:
Have you heard about the great LASER light show in the sky? Well, nobody
had until it was
announced
just yesterday by a team led by K. Davidson
(
U. Minnesota) and S. Johansson
(
U. Lund).
The research team discovered that
the unusually variable star
Eta Carinae emits
ultraviolet light of such a
specific color it is most probably
LASER light! The
artist's
conception
shown above depicts a possible model for the
Hubble Space Telescope
observations. In this model,
Eta Carinae emits many
LASER
beams from its surrounding cloud of energized
gas.
Infrared LASERS and
microwave
MASERS
are extremely rare astrophysical phenomena, but this
ultraviolet LASER is the first of its kind to be discovered.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
