Discovery of a little Homunculus within the Homunculus Nebula of η Carinae

We report long-slit spectroscopic mapping of the eta Carinae nebula obtained using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. The observations reveal the presence of a previously unknown bipolar emission nebula ( roughly +/-2 along its major axis) embedded within the well-known and larger Homunculus Nebula. A preliminary analysis suggests that this embedded nebula may have originated from a minor eruption event circa 1890, 50 years after the formation of the larger Homunculus.