Earth is having a laser duel with the exploding Carina Nebula; Know details

The Earth engages in a laser battle with the Carina Nebula and it is one of the best achievements for scientists on Earth. In the ESO’s picture of the week, the telescopes from Earth can be seen firing laser beams towards the Carina Nebula.

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Earth vs Carina Nebula: Details

The Carina Nebula or Eta Carinae nebula is located 7500 light-years away from Earth. It appears a purple nebula from the planet. But, Eta Carinae is not a single star - it is a pair of twin stars. This Nebular caught the interest of many scientists as it has been continuously exploding for more than 200 years. The lights these explosions emitted easily overcame the huge distance and its lights were clearly visible from Earth.

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Scientists noted that if the nebular could be studied in detail, a lot of information can be found about how it all started. But, viewing through the distance of 7500 light-years is not an easy task. Even though Earth has a lot of powerful telescopes like the ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, getting a clear picture is still a daunting task as Earth has a thick layer of gaseous atmosphere which often blurs the view and prevents humans from getting a clear picture of celestial bodies far away.

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To counter this situation, scientists decided to fire lasers into space at the Eta Carinae Nebula. The lasers are being fired from the components of the Very Large Telescope. The sodium particles present in the atmosphere cause the beams to glow in bright orange color and create an image of artificial stars. It allows them to measure how the Earth’s atmosphere is blurring the artificial stars. Firing these lasers help scientists to measure the position of the real starts with a better accuracy rate.

The Very Large Telescope’s laser-firing has allowed scientists to have a better look at space. They now claim that it will offer them a better view of what is happening in the faraway galaxies and nebulas which are distantly located from the Milky Way.

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The scientists are claiming that they are now firing these high powered laser beams towards the Eta Carinae Nebula. They hope to reach the exploding twin star nebula with the help of these laser beams. This can now help the scientists as they can now have a better picture of what is happening inside the Nebula and can find more details about this mysterious and ever-expanding space.