Double star system Eta Carinae seems perpetually ready to explode, as we've reported before.According to National Geographic, however, when exactly the stellar system will self-destruct is unclear: it could be this week or in tens of thousands of years. Now, with the help of a Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, scientists have been able to capture a more detailed look at Eta Carinae than ever before. Under the leadership of Gerd Weigelt from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, the team of scientists is looking at the space between Eta Carinae's two stars.Eta Carinae resides in the Carina Nebula, 7,500 light years from Earth. If the Eta Carinae stars weren't surrounded by the hazy nebula, they would appear brighter to us down on Earth.Eta Carinae's primary star is 90 times larger and five million times brighter than the sun. Another star, which is only 30 times larger than the sun's mass, circles the primary one. Overshadowed by its companion, the secondary star wasn't even discovered until 1996. As the two stars orbit each other, they produce violent winds whirling at over six million miles per hour.Recently, using the very large telescope, scientists have discovered structures where the winds from the stars collide. Now, they may have some more clues regarding how these massive stars lose their mass as they evolve.While the stars may not lose mass and erupt any time soon, Eta Carinae is not altogether stable. But even if it does, it's no danger to us earthlings.
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