Increasing X-ray emissions and periodic outbursts from the massive star Eta Carinae

Details Increasing X-ray emissions and periodic outbursts from the massive star Eta Carinae Increasing X-ray emissions and periodic outbursts from the massive star Eta Carinae

Dec 1997

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997natur.390..587c&link_type=abstract

Nature, vol. 390, p. 587

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

46

Massive Stars, X Ray Sources, Variable Stars, Stellar Flares, Stellar Radiation, Periodic Variations, Novae

Scientific paper

We have monitored the hard X-ray emission from Eta Carinae over the past 1.5 years in order to better understand the nature of these emissions and their variations. We show here that there has been an overall increase in the mean X-ray flux which has accelerated since January 1997, and that there are also small-scale periodic outbursts that occur every 85 days. It has recently been argued that Eta Carinae is in fact a binary stellar system whose components are approaching periastron near January 1, 1998. If this is indeed the case, then it is plausible that the hard X-ray emission is produced by shocks associated with the collision of the winds from the two stars, in which case the X-ray flux should increase through periastron, and rapidly decline thereafter. Continued monitoring will test this prediction.

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