Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004aas...204.0712s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society Meeting 204, #07.12; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 36, p.787
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We present UV images of Eta Carinae taken with the ACS/HRC camera on HST before, during, and after the most recent "spectroscopic event" that occurred in mid 2003, providing strong support for the idea that Eta Car may be a binary system. These multi-epoch images reveal variability in the fuzzy UV excess emission around the star called the "Purple Haze", which is a combination of circumstellar nebulosity and spatially-resolved emission from outer parts of the stellar wind. The brightness fluctuations are caused by variable UV illumination of this material during Eta Car's 5.5 yr cycle. The observed variability is decidedly asymmetric, and could be interpreted as support for the hypothesis that Eta Car is a close binary system where UV radiation from a hot companion is blocked in certain directions by the dense primary star's wind near periastron. In order to explain these changes with a single-star model, a complicated shell ejection with preferred azimuthal directions would need to be invoked.
Collins Nicholas R.
Gull Ted R.
Morse Jon A.
Smith Nathan
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