Related papers: Explosions Triggered by Violent Binary-Star Collis…

We reconstruct the evolution of Eta Carinae in the last two centuries, under the assumption that the two 19th century eruptions were triggered by periastron passages, and by that constrain the binary parameters. The beginning of the Lesser…

Context. Colliding-wind binaries are massive stellar systems featuring strong, interacting winds. These binaries may be actual particle accelerators, making them variable gamma-ray sources due to changes in the wind collision region along…

We suggest that major Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) eruptions are a result of a periastron passage interaction with the secondary star. The interaction must take place when the primary envelope is in an unstable phase. In our model the mass…

Eta Carinae shows broad peaks in near-infrared (IR) JHKL photometry, roughly correlated with times of periastron passage in the eccentric binary system. After correcting for secular changes attributed to reduced extinction from the thinning…

I examine some aspects of the interaction between the massive star Eta Carinae and its companion, in particular during the eclipse-like event, known as the spectroscopic event or the shell event. The spectroscopic event is thought to occur…

The exact nature of eta Carinae is still an open issue. In this paper we assume a binary system to explain the strong X-ray emission, but we also take into account that, near periastron and because of the highly eccentric orbit, the wind…

The most massive binary system Eta Carinae has been recently established as a gamma-ray source by the AGILE and Fermi-LAT detectors. The high energy spectrum of this gamma-ray source is very intriguing. It shows two clear components and a…

The periodic spectroscopic events in eta Carinae are now well established and occur near the periastron passage of two massive stars in a very eccentric orbit. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the variations of different…

Binary star systems containing a neutron star or a black hole with an evolved, massive star are dynamically perturbed when the latter undergoes a supernova explosion. It is possible that the natal kick received by the newly-formed neutron…

Cosmic-ray acceleration has been a long-standing mystery and despite more than a century of study, we still do not have a complete census of acceleration mechanisms. The collision of strong stellar winds in massive binary systems creates…

We quantify the rapid variations in X-ray brightness ("flares") from the extremely massive colliding wind binary Eta Carinae seen during the past three orbital cycles by RXTE. The observed flares tend to be shorter in duration and more…

Very massive stars shed much of their mass in violent precursor eruptions as luminous blue variables (LBVs) before reaching their most likely end as supernovae, but the cause of LBV eruptions is unknown. The 19th century eruption of Eta…

FU Orionis type objects (fuors) are characterized by rapid (tens to hundreds years) episodic outbursts, during which the luminosity increases by orders of magnitude. One of the possible causes of such events is a close encounter between…

We discuss the events that led to the giant eruption of Eta Carinae, and find that the mid-nineteenth century (in 1838-1843) giant mass-loss outburst has the characteristics of being produced by the merger event of a massive close binary,…

Very massive stars occasionally expel material in colossal eruptions, driven by continuum radiation pressure rather than blast waves. Some of them rival supernovae in total radiative output, and the mass loss is crucial for subsequent…

Eta Car, with its historical outbursts, visible ejecta and massive, variable winds, continues to challenge both observers and modelers. In just the past five years over 100 papers have been published on this fascinating object. We now know…

$\eta$ Carinae is composed of two very massive stars orbiting each other in 5.5 years. The primary star features the densest known stellar wind, colliding with that expelled by its companion. The wind collision region dissipates energy and…

$\eta$~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…

We study the usage of the X-ray light curve, column density toward the hard X-ray source, and emission measure (density square times volume), of the massive binary system Eta Carinae to determine the orientation of its semi-major axis. The…

The stellar origin of gamma-ray bursts can be explained by the rapid release of energy in a highly collimated, extremely relativistic jet. This in turn appears to require a rapidly spinning highly magnetised stellar core that collapses into…