Some of the outer condensations of the very massive star Eta Carinae have emission-line spectra which convey clues to the nature of the star from which they were ejected. Ground-based spectrograms as well as ultraviolet IUE data on the brightest such condensation is described. Excess nitrogen presumably resulting from the C/N/O cycle implies that the star is at least moderately evolved. The facts seem consistent with recent suggestions that turbulent mixing, combined with mass loss, causes a very massive star like Eta Carinae to evolve quasi-homogeneously.
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Davidson et al. (1982) studied this question.