Eta Carinae flares, to become the second-brightest…
March 1843 CE
A stellar system containing at least two stars with a combined luminosity greater than five million times that of the Sun, Eta Carinae is located around 7,500 light-years (2,300 parsecs) distant in the constellation Carina.
Previously a 4th-magnitude star, it had brightened in 1837 to become brighter than Rigel marking the start of the Great Eruption.
Eta Carinae becomes the second-brightest star in the sky between March 11 and 14, 1843, before fading well below naked eye visibility after 1856.