High spatial resolution polarization mapping of the nebula around Eta Carinae

Details High spatial resolution polarization mapping of the nebula around Eta Carinae High spatial resolution polarization mapping of the nebula around Eta Carinae

Jul 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996hst..prop.6518w&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #6518

Computer Science

Hst Proposal Id #6518 Interstellar Medium

Scientific paper

The ejecta from Eta Car {LBV, most luminous star in the Galaxy, pre-SN?} comprise the Homunculus nebula, a dense dusty bipolar-shaped, predominantly reflection, nebula surrounded by a fast-moving fragmented shell. The velocity vectors of these fragments point back to Eta Car and indicate an ejection in the middle of the last century. Why a single star should eject mass in a clearly non-spherically symmetric way is not understood, but a deeper understanding can only follow from the 3-D geometry of the ejection nebula, the Homunculus. A novel method of exploring the 3-D shape of the Homunculus through imaging polarimetry is proposed to resolve the controversy on its real shape. By imaging the sub-arcsec knots and filaments in the Homunculus in polarized light, their position along the line of sight can be determined using a geometrical model with dust scattering for the nebula. By observing at a number of wavelengths, a detailed model of the scattering properties of the dust in the Homunculus can be made and then applied to determine the geometry. Careful selection of the filter passbands in which to perform polarimetry will allow the effect of emission lines on continuum scattering to be assessed, especially for the knots in the close vicinity of Eta Car. The result will be a clearer picture of the geometry of the ejection nebula from a massive star, thus enabling the fundamental questions of ejection mechanisms to be addressed.

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