Carina OB1

Map of Carina OB1, with details added.

Carina OB1 is a giant OB association in the Carina Nebula, which is home to some of the most massive and luminous stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. It includes the two young star clusters Trumpler 14 and Trumpler 16, the latter being the home of the famous Eta Carinae. It also includes another massive and luminous star, HD 93129A. It is approximately 8,000 light-years from Earth.

Chandra X-ray Observatory image of Carina OB1.

It is one of the largest known stellar associations, with Sagittarius OB5 and Cygnus OB2. It is much easier to see than that of the other associations since Carina OB1 has relatively little dust extinction in its region. Together with Carina OB2, they compromise the most massive stellar grouping known in the galaxy.

Carina OB1 has the size of about 70 light-years, and is the most massive stellar association in the Milky Way Galaxy since it lies within an active emission nebula. It contains many hot luminous stars which share common characteristics.

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