The 3D Structure of Eta Carinae's Nebula: A Definitive Picture from High-Dispersion Near-IR Spectra

Details The 3D Structure of Eta Carinae's Nebula: A Definitive Picture from High-Dispersion Near-IR Spectra The 3D Structure of Eta Carinae's Nebula: A Definitive Picture from High-Dispersion Near-IR Spectra

Dec 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005aas...20711406s&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society Meeting 207, #114.06; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 37, p.1348

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Scientific paper

High resolution long-slit spectra obtained with the Phoenix spectrograph on Gemini South provide our most accurate probe of the 3D structure of the Homunculus Nebula around Eta Carinae. Emission from molecular hydrogen at 2.122 microns traces a very thin outer skin, which contains the vast majority of the more than 10 solar masses of material in the nebula. This emission, in turn, yields our first definitive picture of the exact shape of the nebula, plus the latitude dependence of the mass-loss rate, speed, kinetic energy, shell thickness, and other properties asociated with Eta Car's 19th century explosion. This will be critical for testing any models for the outburst mechanism. A preliminary analysis suggests that explosion from a critically rotating star was the dominant mechanism that gave rise to both the bipolar shape of the nebula and the production of its equatorial disk. [Fe II] emission in the near IR traces a geometrically thicker but less massive shell found on the inner surface of the H2 skin --- this is either a reverse shock that decelerates Eta Car's wind or a warm PDR. [Fe II] emission also clarifies the structure of an inner "Little Homunculus" seen previously in HST/STIS spectra. Comparing these two tracers of cool molecular gas and warm partially-ionized gas resolves some significant confusion about the complex structure noted in previous studies.

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