Eta Carinae Nebula. Infrared composite image of the Carina (NGC 3372) nebula, a vast cloud of dust and gas surrounding the variable star Eta Carinae. Eta Carinae is one of the most massive stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, at over 100 times the mass of the Sun. The region of the Carina nebula is one of ongoing star formation. These images were made as part of the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) project using ground-based telescopes in the USA and in Chile. 2MASS began in 1997 with the aim of surveying the entire sky using near- infrared. Infrared can peer through the dense dust that obscures millions of stars from sight at visible wavelengths.