DETECTION OF THE COMPRESSED PRIMARY STELLAR WIND IN ETA CARINAE


M. Teodoro (1,2), T. I. Madura (1,3), T. R. Gull (1), M. F. Corcoran (4,5), and K. Hamaguchi (4,6)

1 - Astrophysics Science Division, Code 667, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; 2 - CNPq/Science without Borders Fellow; 3 - NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow; 4 - CRESST and Xray Astrophysics Laboratory, Code 662, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; 5 - Universities Space Research Association, 10211 Wincopin Circle, Suite 500 Columbia, MD 21044, USA; 6 - Department of Physics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA

A series of three HST/STIS spectroscopic mappings, spaced approximately one year apart, reveal three partial arcs in [Fe II] and [Ni II] emissions moving outward from eta Carinae. We identify these arcs with the shell-like structures, seen in the 3D hydrodynamical simulations, formed by compression of the primary wind by the secondary wind during periastron passages.

Reference: To appear in ApJ Letters
Status: Manuscript has been accepted

Weblink: http://arxiv.org/abs/1307.3244

Comments:

Email: mairan.teodoro@nasa.gov