X-ray Variability of the Eta Car System Through its Most Recent Periastron Passage

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

We discuss X-ray and Gamma-ray observations of the superluminous extremely massive binary system Eta Carinae through the most recent X-ray minimum/periastron passage in January 2009. X-ray monitoring with RXTE shows that the minimum began on 16 January 2009, consistent with a period of 2024 days. Prior to the X-ray minimum, the flux of the system in the 2-10 keV band and X-ray hardness decreased compared to the previous cycle. Most intriguingly, the X-ray flux began to recover from the minimum state about one month earlier than expected from observations of the previous two X-ray minima in 1998 and 2003. Chandra grating spectra obtained from 2002 to 2009 show marked variations in the flow dynamics as measured by the profiles of strong X-ray lines. We also compare the X-ray variations to the time-resolved gamma-ray emission measured by AGILE and Fermi. The X-ray emission variations suggest a significant decline in wind strength from eta Car starting shortly after the previous periastron passage.

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