Publications of the MPIfR
Optical & Infrared
Interferometry Group
H. Falcke, K. Davidson, K.-H. Hofmann,
and G. Weigelt
Speckle masking imaging polarimetry of Carinae:
evidence for an equatorial disk
Astronomy and Astrophysics, v.306, p.L17-L20 (1996)
Abstract
With our new speckle imaging polarimeter we have obtained the first
polarimetric images witharcsecond resolution of the Luminous
Blue Variable η Carinae in the Hα line. The polarization
patterns at the 3" scale match well earlier conventional imaging
photometry and can be interpreted as Mie scattering. In
crosscorrelation-centered images we detected in polarized light a bar
in
the NE part of the equatorial plane of η Carinae. High-resolution
0.11" polarimetric speckle reconstructions reveal a compact structure
elongated in the same direction which is consistent, in degree and
position angle of the polarisation, with the presence of a
circumstellar, equatorial disk. The degree of polarization of the
previously discovered speckle objects and the Hα arm is relatively
low (~10%) and thus may indicate a position within the equatorial
plane.
We also discovered a highly polarized (20%-40%) bipolar structure along
the major axis of the Homunculus nebula which can be traced down to the
sub-arcsecond scale. This is probably the inner part of a bipolar
outflow into the Homunculus.
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