Discovery of a high velocity, spatially extended emission ``shell'' in front of the southeast lobe of the eta Carinae Homunculus

Details Discovery of a high velocity, spatially extended emission ``shell'' in front of the southeast lobe of the eta Carinae Homunculus Discovery of a high velocity, spatially extended emission ``shell'' in front of the southeast lobe of the eta Carinae Homunculus

Jul 2002

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002a%26a...389l..65c&link_type=abstract

Astronomy and Astrophysics, v.389, p.L65-L68 (2002)

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

5

Stars: Individual: Eta Carinae, Variables: Lbv, Winds, Outflows, Circumstellar Matter

Scientific paper

We report the discovery of the eta Carinae ``Ghost Shell,'' a high-velocity, spatially extended emission feature that lies in front of the southeast lobe of the eta Carinae Homunculus. Using data obtained with ``Kueyen,'' one of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope 8.2 m telescopes and its Ultraviolet and Visible Echelle Spectrograph instrument, we have observed a structure in velocity space of width ~35 km s-1 and with Doppler velocities ranging from -675 <= v <= -850 km s-1. This is up to 500 km s-1 faster than the Homunculus front wall. The structure is distinct from the front wall in velocity space, and extends beyond the Homunculus' spatial boundaries. The Ghost Shell has been detected in emission for multiple allowed Balmer lines and in forbidden lines of [NII], [SII], and [ArIII]. The feature is also associated with a complex absorption structure in Ca H and K lines. We propose that the Ghost Shell lies outside the Homunculus and represents the forward shock between the fast stellar wind of the Great Eruption epoch and the older slow massive stellar wind. Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory at Paranal, Chile (UVES commissioning II).

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