Related papers: Comparing Eta Carinae with the Red Rectangle
This paper proposes a simple model for the 19th century eruption of Eta Carinae that consists of two components: (1) a strong wind (MdotM=0.33 Msun/yr; v=200 km/s), blowing for 30 years, followed by (2) a 1e50 erg explosion in 1844. The…
The extremely luminous and unstable star Eta Carinae is surrounded by ejecta formed during the star's giant eruption around 1843. The optical nebula consists of an inner region, the bipolar Homunculus and the outer ejecta. The X-ray…
Near-infrared adaptive optics imaging with NICI and NaCO reveal what appears to be a three-winged or lobed pattern, the "butterfly nebula", outlined by bright Br$\gamma$ and H$_{2}$ emission and light scattered by dust. In contrast, the [Fe…
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…
The accretion model for the nineteenth century Great Eruption (GE) of $\eta$ Carinae suggests that mass outflowing from the primary was accreted onto the secondary, and the gravitational energy of that mass accounts for the increase in…
We show that recent observations of He I and N II lines of $\eta$ Carinae may provide support for an orbital orientation where the secondary star is closest to us at periastron passages. This conclusion is valid both for the commonly…
The binary eta Carinae is the closest example of a very massive star, which may have formed through a merger during its Great Eruption in the mid-nineteenth century. We aimed to confirm and improve the kinematics using a spectroscopic data…
We analyze spatially resolved spectroscopic observations of the Eta Carinae binary system obtained with HST/STIS. Eta Car is enshrouded by the dusty Homunculus nebula, which scatters light emitted by the central binary and provides a unique…
We present follow-up optical imaging and spectroscopy of one of the light echoes of $\eta$ Carinae's 19th-century Great Eruption discovered by Rest et al. (2012). By obtaining images and spectra at the same light echo position between 2011…
We present the results of a numerical study focusing on the propagation of a hypersonic bullet subject to radiative cooling. Our goal is to explore the feasibility of such a model for the formation of ``strings'' observed in the Eta Carinae…
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…
Eta Carinae is a very luminous and unstable evolved star. Outflowing material ejected during the star's giant eruption in 1843 surrounds it as a nebula which consists of an inner bipolar region(the Homunculus) and the Outer Ejecta. The…
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…
Eta Carinae is a massive interacting binary system shrouded in a complex circumstellar environment whose evolution is the source of the long-term brightening observed during the last 80 years. An occulter, acting as a natural coronagraph,…
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…
The HST archive contains a large collection of images of eta Carinae, and this paper analyzes those most suitable for measuring its expanding Homunculus Nebula. Multiple intensity tracings through the Homunculus reveal the fractional…
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…
We report the first detection of X-ray emission associated with the Homunculus Nebula which surrounds the supermassive star Eta Carinae. The emission is characterized by a temperature in excess of 100 MK, and is consistent with scattering…
Energetic outflows from main sequence stars accreting mass at very high rates might account for the powering of some eruptive objects, such as merging main sequence stars, major eruptions of luminous blue variables, e.g., the Great Eruption…
Near-infrared emission lines provide unique diagnostics of the geometry, structure, kinematics, and excitation of eta Carinae's circumstellar ejecta, and give clues to the nature of its wind. The infrared spectrum is a strong function of…