THE EVOLUTION OF ETA CARINAE

Age: 0 years

Activity: As with any star, Eta Carinae formed when the clouds of gas and dust scattered in the Milky Way accumulated, then collapsed due to gravity.

Age: 290,000 years

Activity: At this point Eta Carinae was a protostar, having accreted more mass over time. There is a theory that all stars are born with a twin, or even a third sibling.

Age: 3 million years

Activity: The stars of Eta Carinae fused hydrogen to form helium, and the energy that was released caused them to shine bright.

Date: 1837

Activity: About 180 years ago, the star is observed to have erupted with such ferocity that it became the second-brightest star in the sky.

Date: 1887

Activity: After that Great Eruption, there was a Lesser Eruption, observed in 1887 and reaching sixth magnitude five years on. It also brightened on further occasions.

Date: Today

Activity: Eta Carinae remains an unstable, volatile star that is likely to explode at some point in a powerful blast called a supernova – but there’s still time to observe it.

Date: Future

Activity: Who knows when it will finally die, but one thing’s for sure, rumours that it will cause a mass extinction on Earth are wide off the mark.