Eta carinae is a binary star system containing the most luminous and most massive star system within a 10,000 light year distance.

This 4 minute video, created by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland is SO COOL and represents the most comprehensive picture yet of Eta Carinae. The incredible graphics (especially from the 2 minute mark onwards) really explain how these two massive stars oddly orbit each other, pulling and manipulating their shapes and trajectories every 5 1/2 years (when they come REALLY close to each other).