In the middle of the 19th century, the massive binary system Eta Carinae underwent an eruption that ejected at least 10 times the sun's mass and made it the second-brightest star in the sky. Now, a team of astronomers has used extensive new observations to create the first high-resolution 3-D model of the expanding cloud produced by this outburst.

Included are .stl-formatted and .obj-formatted 3D-printable models of the Eta Carinae Homunculus nebula. This 3D model was derived by Steffen, W., Teodoro, M., Madura, T., et al. 2014 and published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. You can access the journal article directly at Oxford Academic.

We understand that 3D printing often involves trial and error, so you are welcome to make adjustments, share the model, etc. We only request that proper credit and/or citation to Steffen, W., Teodoro, M., Madura, T., et al. (2014), and a link to the original model (above) be provided when appropriate.

Thanks to Frederic Vogt (Australian National University), Francis Reddy (Syneren Technologies), and Sandy Shuman (SGT INC).