Did Carinae's Weigelt Blobs Originate circa 1941?

Dorland, Bryan N.; Currie, D. G.; Hajian, Arsen R.

doi:10.1086/380941

Cited by 33 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The WBs extend towards us and to the NW side (Dorland et al 2004;Chesneau et al 2005;Gull et al 2009). In Fig.…”

Section: Geometrymentioning

confidence: 95%

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The interaction of the eta carinae primary wind with a century old slow equatorial ejecta

Soker¹,

Kashi²

2012

New Astronomy

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We argue that the asymmetric morphology of the blue and red shifted components of the outflow at hundreds of AU from the massive binary system η Carinae can be understood from the collision of the primary stellar wind with the slowly expanding dense equatorial gas. Recent high spatial observations of some forbidden lines, e.g. [Fe III] λ4659, reveal the outflowing gas within about one arcsecond (2300 AU) from η Car. The distribution of the blue and red shifted components are not symmetric about the center, and they are quite different from each other. The morphologies of the blue and red shifted components correlate with the location of dense slowly moving equatorial gas (termed the Weigelt blob environment; WBE), that is thought to have been ejected during the 1887 -1895 Lesser Eruption (LE). In our model the division to the blue and red shifted components is caused by the postshock flow of the primary wind on the two sides of the equatorial plane after it collides with the WBE. The fast wind from the secondary star plays no role in our model for these components, and it is the freely expanding primary wind that collides with the WBE. Because the line of sight is inclined to the binary axis, the two components are not symmetric. We show that the postshock gas can also account for the observed intensity in the [Fe III] λ4659 line.

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“…The WBs extend towards us and to the NW side (Dorland et al 2004;Chesneau et al 2005;Gull et al 2009). In Fig.…”

Section: Geometrymentioning

confidence: 95%

“…These blobs are known as the Weigelt blobs (WBs; Weigelt & Ebersberger 1986;Hofmann & Weigelt 1988). The WBs are concentrated on the NW side of η Car, but there is also dense material in other directions (e.g., Smith & Gehrz 2000;Dorland et al 2004;Chesneau et al 2005;Gull et al 2009;Mehner et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The interaction of the eta carinae primary wind with a century old slow equatorial ejecta

Soker¹,

Kashi²

2012

New Astronomy

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“…Astrometric measurements of the Weigelt blobs C and D have been recently reported by Dorland et al (2004) and by Smith et al (2004a). Both used HST data to measure the relative proper motions of blob C and blob D with respect to the star.…”

Section: Weigelt Blobs and Other Dusty Clumpsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The sub-arcsecond dusty environment of Eta Carinae

Chesneau¹,

Min²,

Herbst³

et al. 2005

A&A

132

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Abstract. The core of the nebula surrounding Eta Carinae has been observed with the VLT Adaptive Optics system NACO and with the interferometer VLTI/MIDI to constrain spatially and spectrally the warm dusty environment and the central object. In particular, narrow-band images at 3.74 µm and 4.05 µm reveal the butterfly shaped dusty environment close to the central star with unprecedented spatial resolution. A void whose radius corresponds to the expected sublimation radius has been discovered around the central source. Fringes have been obtained in the Mid-IR which reveal a correlated flux of about 100 Jy situated 0. 3 south-east of the photocenter of the nebula at 8.7 µm, which corresponds with the location of the star as seen in other wavelengths. This correlated flux is partly attributed to the central object, and these observations provide an upper limit for the SED of the central source from 2.2 µm to 13.5 µm. Moreover, we have been able to spectrally disperse the signal from the nebula itself at PA = 318 degree, i.e. in the direction of the bipolar nebula (∼310• ) within the MIDI field of view of 3 . A large amount of corundum (Al 2 O 3 ) is discovered, peaking at 0. 6-1. 2 south-east from the star, whereas the dust content of the Weigelt blobs is dominated by silicates. We discuss the mechanisms of dust formation which are closely related to the geometry of this Butterfly nebulae.

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“…This probably does not matter too much for the polar lobes, which are seen primarily in starlight reflected by dust, but the strong variations of the Purple Haze and LH could cause pronounced systematic effects in the inner parts of the nebula in these data. Proper motions and kinematics show that the LH and some other ejecta in the inner core of the Homunculus are indeed younger than the Great Eruption (Dorland et al 2004;Smith et al 2004a;Smith 2005;Artigau et al 2011). Note that in Fig.…”

Section: Comparison With Previous Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…In a recent study, Kiminki et al (2016) measured proper motions of the extended Outer Ejecta, showing strong evidence for multiple major mass ejections several centuries before the Great Eruption. Proper motions for features deep inside the Homunculus indicate mass ejections many decades after the Great Eruption as well (Dorland et al 2004;Smith et al 2004a;Artigau et al 2011).…”

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confidence: 99%

A moderately precise dynamical age for the Homunculus of Eta Carinae based on 13 years of HST imaging

Smith

2017

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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The Hubble Space Telescope archive contains a large collection of images of η Carinae, and this paper analyses those most suitable for measuring its expanding Homunculus Nebula. Multiple intensity tracings through the Homunculus reveal the fractional increase in the overall size of the nebula; this avoids registration uncertainty, mitigates brightness fluctuations, and is independent of previous methods. Combining a 13 yr baseline of Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 images in the F631N filter, with a 4 yr baseline of Advanced Camera for Surveys/High Resolution Channel images in the F550M filter, yields an ejection date (assuming linear motion) of 1847.1 (±0.8 yr). This result improves the precision, but is in excellent agreement with the previous study by Morse et al., that used a shorter time baseline and a different analysis method. This more precise date is inconsistent with ejection during a periastron passage of the eccentric binary. Ejection occurred well into the main plateau of the Great Eruption, and not during the brief peaks in 1843 and 1838. The age uncertainty is dominated by a real spread in ages of various knots, and by some irregular brightness fluctuations. Several knots appear to have been ejected decades before or after the mean date, implying a complicated history of mass-loss episodes outside the main bright phase of the eruption. The extended history of mass ejection may have been largely erased by the passage of a shock through clumpy ejecta, as most material was swept into a thin shell with nearly uniform apparent age.

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Did Carinae's Weigelt Blobs Originate circa 1941?

Cited by 33 publications

References 27 publications

The interaction of the eta carinae primary wind with a century old slow equatorial ejecta

The interaction of the eta carinae primary wind with a century old slow equatorial ejecta

The sub-arcsecond dusty environment of Eta Carinae

A moderately precise dynamical age for the Homunculus of Eta Carinae based on 13 years of HST imaging

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