Complex outer shell of eta Carinae

Short-exposure, interference-filter photographs obtained at the prime focus of the CTIO 4 meter reflector reveal the great complexity and extent of eta Carinae's outer shell. Some features have increased their distances from the central object with respect to Thackeray's photographs of a quarter-century ago, and some apparent structural relationships are found between features of the homunculus and the outer shell. A speculative relationship to van den Bergh's quasi-stationary flocculi in Cas A is pointed out