Combination of 20, 60 second images
Modified Canon Digital Rebel DSLR camera. 135mm f/2.8 Olympus lens.
The Keyhole Nebula (also sometimes called the Eta Carina Nebula) is the brightest emission nebulae in the sky. It is easily visible to the naked eye as a cloudy patch in the Milky Way, not far from the Southern Cross. The Keyhole nebula is definitely one of the top 5 objects of the southern skies. Even in binoculars, the field is strewn with patches of light and dark nebulosity. In a telescope the view is magnificent. Situated in the heart of one of the richest portions of the Milky Way outside of Sagittarius, the entire region abounds in clusters and double stars. Interestingly however, there are few emission nebulae in the area. It is as though all of the nebulae in the region had been gathered up together to make one stupendous object!
The large open cluster towards the upper left is NGC 3532, while the cluster towards the bottom of the image is IC 2602.