Related papers: A Lighthouse Effect in Eta Carinae
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…
This paper presents new investigations on coherent scattering in the forward direction (orders of magnitude; conservation of energy; dependence of scattered light on geometry and wavelength), and on how scattered light contamination in the…
Contrary to recent claims, we argue that the orientation of the massive binary system Eta Carinae is such that the secondary star is closer to us at periastron passage, and it is on the far side during most of the time of the eccentric…
We present a detailed V-band photometric light curve modeling of 30 eclipsing binaries using the data from Pietrukowicz et al. (2009) collected with the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope (ESO VLT) of diameter 8-m. The light…
We present a comprehensive photometric light curve and orbital period analysis of the W UMa-type contact binary EM Tuc. The O-C analysis constructed from all available eclipse timings exhibits a clear upward parabolic trend, indicating a…
Observations of high energy gamma rays recently revealed a persistent source in spatial coincidence with the binary system Eta Carinae. Since modulation of the observed gamma-ray flux on orbital time scales has not been reported so far, an…
In order to study the distribution of gas and ionizing radiation around eta Car and their implications for its likely companion star, we have examined high-excitation emission lines of [Ne III], [Fe III], etc., in spectra obtained with the…
HDE228766 is a very massive binary system hosting a secondary component, which is probably in an intermediate evolutionary stage between an Of supergiant and an WN star. The wind of this star collides with the wind of its O8 II companion,…
Photometric and spectroscopic observations of the unstudied 12th-magnitude eclipsing binary GSC 04778-00152 are presented. We report the discovery of a visual companion about 1 mag fainter and 2 arcsec away from the binary. By subtracting…
We present 3D hydrodynamical simulations of an isotropic fast wind interacting with a previously ejected toroidally-shaped slow wind in order to model both the observed morphology and the kinematics of the planetary nebula (PN) NGC 6302.…
Understanding the late-stage evolution of the most massive stars such as $\eta$ Carinae is challenging because no true analogs of $\eta$ Car have been clearly identified in the Milky Way or other galaxies. In Khan et. al. (2013), we…
The core of the nebula surrounding Eta Carinae has recently been observed with VLT/NACO, VLTI/VINCI, VLTI/MIDI and VLTI/AMBER in order to spatially and spectrally constrain the warm dusty environment and the central object. Narrow-band…
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…
The region around the $\eta$ Car nebula has three OB associations, which contain a Wolf-Rayet star and several massive O3 stars. An early Chandra ACIS-I image was centered on $\eta$ Car and includes Trumpler 16 and part of Trumpler 14. The…
The dynamics of colliding wind binary systems and conditions for efficient particle acceleration therein have attracted multiple numerical studies in the recent years. These numerical models seek an explanation of the thermal and…
The discovery of very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray emitting X-ray binaries has triggered an intense effort to better understand the particle acceleration, absorption, and emission mechanisms in compact binary systems, which provide variable…
One of the most intriguing spectral features of WR binary stars is the presence of time-dependent line profiles. Long term observations of several systems revealed the periodicity of this variability, synchronized with the orbital movement.…
Photometry of the unique pre-main sequence binary system KH 15D is presented, spanning the years 2005-2010. This system has exhibited photometric variations and eclipses over the last 50 years caused by a precessing circumbinary disk.…
We present an analysis of archival Gemini g', r', K and Keck H, K_s imaging of this nearby short period binary (P_B=95.8min) 2.87ms pulsar. The heated companion is clearly detected. Direct pulsar heating provides an acceptable model at the…
We evaluate the place of Eta Carinae amongst the class of luminous blue variables (LBVs) and show that the LBV phenomenon is not restricted to extremely luminous objects like Eta Car, but extends luminosities as low as log(L/Lsun) = 5.4 -…