Eta Carinae Nebula

Located in the far southern sky, the Eta Carinae Nebula is one of the largest emission nebula in the sky. Its 4 times the size of the great Orion Nebula. Eta Carina is bright enough to be seen by the naked eye. However usually one has to be south of 10deg latitude to do this. Usually to image Eta Carinae, one has to travel to the southern hemisphere. There are only a few places in the US where its visible, S. Florida and S. Texas. I took these images at the Winter Star Party in the FL Keys where Eta Carinae only rises 5 deg above the southern horizon. Luckily we had a few nights that the sky was nearly cloud free just about to the horizon which made this image possible. The dark band in the image is haze and some clouds right near the horizon.

• Optics : 70-200mm f4 lens @ 70mm f5.6 and 135mm f5.6
• Mount: Polarie sky tracker on a tripod
• Camera: Canon 60Da
• Filters: None
• Exposure: (18) 180sec exposures @ ISO 3200
• Camera/Mount Control: Interval Timer
• Location: Wiinter Star Party, FL Keys
• Date: Feb 13