Related papers: All Things Homunculus
Previous STIS long-slit observations of Eta Carinae identified numerous absorption features in both the stellar spectrum, and in the adjacent nebular spectra, along our line-of-sight. The absorption features became temporarily stronger when…
High-resolution spectra of [Fe II] 16435 around eta Carinae provide powerful diagnostics of the geometry and kinematics of the ``Little Homunculus'' (LH) growing inside the larger Homunculus nebula. The LH expansion is not perfectly…
The observed giant outbursts of Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) may occur when these massive stars approach their Eddington limits. When this happens, they must reach a point where the centrifugal force and the radiative acceleration cancel…
We present here new results of two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of the eruptive events of the 1840s (the great) and the 1890s (the minor) eruptions suffered by the massive star $\eta$ Car. The two bipolar nebulae commonly known as…
Aims. The structural inhomogeneities and kinematics of massive star nebulae are tracers of their mass-loss history. We conduct a three-dimensional morpho-kinematic analysis of the ejecta of eta Car outside its famous Homunculus nebula.…
We present models that reproduce the observed double-shell structure of the Homunculus Nebula around eta Carinae, including the stratification of infrared H2 and [FeII] emission seen in data obtained with the Phoenix spectrograph on Gemini…
The Luminous Blue Variable star Eta Carinae is one of the most massive stars known. It underwent a giant eruption in 1843 in which the Homunculus nebula was created. ROSAT and ASCA data indicate the existence of a hard and a soft X-ray…
$\eta$~Car is one of the most massive stars in the Galaxy. It underwent a massive eruption in the 19th century, which produced the impressive bipolar Homunculus nebula now surrounding it. The central star is an eccentric binary with a…
In this paper, we present two-dimensional gas dynamic simulations of the formation and evolution of the eta-Car bipolar outflows. Adopting the interacting nonspherical winds model, we have carried out high-resolution numerical simulations,…
The nebula around eta Carinae consists of two distinct parts: the Homunculus and the outer ejecta. The outer ejecta are mainly a collection of numerous filaments, shaped irregularly and distributed over an area of 1arcminx1arcmin. While the…
We present thermal infrared images of the bipolar nebula surrounding eta Carinae at six wavelengths from 4.8 to 24.5 microns. These were obtained with the MIRAC3 camera system at the Magellan Observatory. Our images reveal new intricate…
We here present two-dimensional, time-dependent radiatively cooling hydrodynamical simulations of the large and little Homunculus nebulae around $\eta$ Carinae. We employ an alternative scenario to previous interacting stellar wind models…
We present optical spectra of the ionized `Outer Ejecta' of Eta Carinae that reveal differences in chemical composition at various positions. In particular, young condensations just outside the dusty Homunculus Nebula show strong nitrogen…
3-D printing moves beyond interactive 3-D graphics and provides an excellent tool for both visual and tactile learners, since 3-D printing can now easily communicate complex geometries and full color information. Some limitations of…
We present a semi-analytic model for shaping the nebula around eta Carinae that accounts for the simultaneous production of bipolar lobes and an equatorial disk through a rotating surface explosion. Material is launched normal to the…
The luminous unstable star (star system) eta Carinae is surrounded by an optically bright bipolar nebula, the Homunculus and a fainter but much larger nebula, the so-called outer ejecta. As images from the EINSTEIN and ROSAT satellites have…
Context: The bright star eta Carinae is the most massive and luminous star in our region of the Milky Way. Though it has been extensively studied using many different techniques, its physical nature and the mechanism that led to the…
We present spectroscopic observations with high spectral resolution of eta Car as seen by the SE lobe of the Homunculus nebula over the 2003.5 "spectroscopic event". The observed spectra represent the stellar spectrum emitted near the pole…
High-resolution spectra of molecular hydrogen in the Homunculus nebula allow for the first direct measurement of the systemic velocity of Eta Carinae. Near-infrared long-slit data for H2 1-0 S(1) lambda 21218 obtained with the Phoenix…
High resolution near-infrared adaptive optics imaging and polarimetry have been obtained of the Homunculus Nebula and its central star Eta Carinae (HD 93308). Maps of the linear polarization at a resolution of <0.2'' have been made in the…