First X-ray detection of a colliding-wind binary beyond the Milky Way   As HD 5980's two major stars orbit each other every 20 days, the X-ray emission of the system changes. The left part shows the actual XMM-Newton data, whereas the right side gives the geometry of the system at the same time (the observer is supposed to look at it from the bottom). The collision is marked with a solid dark line, the orbit in a thinner line, and the erupting star in dark blue.   A Hubble Space Telescope view of the cluster NGC 346 - the arrow indicates the position of HD 5980.   The Small Magellanic Cloud, HD 5980’s host galaxy. The binary’s home cluster, NGC 346, is the biggest red spot (just below the image center).   A Chandra X-ray Observatory close-up on HD 5980 - the star (in yellow) is surrounded by the remnants of a supernova explosion (in red).   The star Eta Carinae was seen to erupt in the 19th century. During the eruption, the star lost 10 to 20 solar masses of material, which now forms a nebula around it. Astronomers observed a similar outburst from HD 5980 in 1993-94. This Hubble Space Telescope’s image thus shows how HD 5980 might look like in a century. Release date: 16 February 2007