Penetrating the Homunculus -- Near-Infrared Adaptive Optics Images of Eta Carinae

Details Penetrating the Homunculus -- Near-Infrared Adaptive Optics Images of Eta Carinae Penetrating the Homunculus -- Near-Infrared Adaptive Optics Images of Eta Carinae

Jan 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010aas...21542706m&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #215, #427.06; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.343

Physics

Optics

Scientific paper

We present the extraordinary near-infrared images of Eta Carinae obtained with the Near-Infrared Coronagraphic Camera (NICI) with adaptive optics on the Gemini South telescope just after Eta Car's 2009 spectroscopic event. The K-band continuum and continuum-subtracted narrow-band Br-gamma and H2 images show a three-winged pattern outlined by bright emitting dust in the innermost region of the ejecta around the central star. This intriguing pattern was first noticed by Chesneau et al. (2005) from earlier VLT/NaCO images and was named the "butterfly nebula.” In contrast the with the Br-gamma and H2 images, the [Fe II] image does not follow the outline of the "butterfly wings,” but instead shows a much broader, bipolar distribution traced to about 2 arcsec from the star. We suggest that the [Fe II] emission is tracing the "little Homunculus" previously observed only spectroscopically, and attributed to a bipolar outflow from Eta Car's second eruption in the 1890's. The nature of the "butterfly nebula" is debated and may be due to an ouflow or to an equatorial torus. Kinematic data is needed to measure or set limits on its expansion, age and orientation within the larger Homunculus. In this poster we also report the results of our measurements of the transverse motions of the knots and filaments that outline the "butterfly."

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