Publications of the MPIfR
Optical & Infrared
Interferometry Group
1) K. Davidson, D. Ebbets, S.
Johansson,
J. Morse, F. Hamann, B. Balick, R. Humphreys, G. Weigelt, and A. Frank
HST/GHRS observations of the compact slow
ejecta of Eta Carinae
Astronomical
Journal, v.113, p.335-345 (1997)
Abstract
We report spectroscopic observations of eta Car and adjacent gas with
an
unprecedented combination of spatial and spectral resolution,
0.1{\arcsec} x 0.1 { Angstroms}. Radial velocities show that the bright
objects {\xC} and {\xD}, 0.2{\arcsec} from the star, are slow
equatorial
ejecta. The narrow emission lines which fluctuate in the spectrum of
the
core region are found to originate in {\xC}, {\xD}, and related gas.
Our
data and earlier speckle observations suggest that either {\xC} and
{\xD} were formed long after the Great Eruption of eta Car had ceased,
or else they have been continuously accelerated outward since they were
ejected. These strange objects are essential components of the
equatorial-debris puzzle, which is crucial regarding the nature of this
star and its instability. Moreover, the observed bright narrow emission
lines in {\xCD} are excited by peculiar mechanisms that deserve more
attention.
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