Full Frame 100% size image

FSQ106EDXIII F5 Takahashi APO + STL11K CCD & 8CFW on Paramount ME
(Syn LUM,SII,HA,OIII) LRGB
120:120:120:120 mins
Bin: 1 x 1
-20C chip temp, darks and flats
Image scale = 3.5 a/p
Guide Camera: SBIG Internal Guide

The Carina Nebula (also known as the Great Nebula in Carina, the Eta Carina Nebula, or NGC 3372) is a large bright nebula that surrounds several open clusters of stars.
Eta Carinae and HD 93129A, two of the most massive and luminous stars in our Milky Way galaxy, are among them.
The nebula lies at an estimated distance between 6,500 and 10,000 light years from Earth. It is located in the constellation of Carina. The nebula contains multiple O-type stars.

The nebula is one of the largest diffuse nebulae in our skies.
Although it is some four times as large and even brighter than the famous Orion Nebula, the Carina Nebula is much less well known, due to its location far in the Southern Hemisphere.
It was discovered by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1751–52 from the Cape of Good Hope.

Within the large bright nebula is a much smaller feature, immediately surrounding Eta Carinae itself.
This small nebula is known as the Homunculus Nebula (from the Latin meaning Little Man), and is believed to have been ejected in an enormous outburst in 1841 which briefly made Eta Carinae the second-brightest star in the sky.

Source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carina_Nebula