HR Carinae

HR Carinae is a supergiant, luminous blue variable star located in the constellation Carina. It is surrounded by a vast nebula of ejected nuclear-processed material because this star has a multiple shell expanding atmosphere. This star is among the most luminous stars in our galxay. It has very broad emission wings of the Balmer lines, reminiscent from the broad lines observed in the spectra of Of and Wolf-Rayet stars. A kinematic distance of 5.4 kpc and a bolometric magnitude of -9.4 put HR Car among the most luminous stars of the galaxy.

Brightness variation

HR Carinae undergoes spectral variations apparently correlated with the light variations similarly to other luminous blue variables.

Characteristics

HR Carinae is a lot like Eta Carinae, both luminous blue variables, and both surrounded by ejected material. The only difference is their mass.