Most massive star visible to the naked eye
- Who
- Unknown
- Where
- In the constellation of Carina, visible from the southern hemisphere,
- When
- 05 February 2003
Eta Carinae is a rare supergiant, some 9,000 light years from Earth. With a mass estimated at between 100 and 200 times that of the Sun, it is one of the most massive stars in the galaxy. Today it, along with its surrounding gas, is just visible to the naked eye, with a magnitude of 6.21.
Around 150 years ago it became one of the brightest stars in the sky, as it underwent massive explosive outbursts. It is one of the most unstable stars known to astronomers, and will almost certainly destroy itself in a supernova at some time in the future.