Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T15:51:38.750Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

η Carinae – A Massive Star In Its Death Throes?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Roberta M. Humphreys ,
Kris Davidson  and
Nathan Smith
Roberta M. Humphreys
Affiliation:
Astronomy Department, University of Minnesota, 116 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Kris Davidson
Affiliation:
Astronomy Department, University of Minnesota, 116 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Nathan Smith
Affiliation:
Astronomy Department, University of Minnesota, 116 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The very name of η Carinae conjures up the spectre of unsolved problems and challenging physics in the minds of many stellar astrophysicists. High spatial resolution spectroscopy and imaging of η Car during the past few years have answered some questions, but new and even more puzzling ones have appeared. In this review we highlight some of the recent discoveries and the still outstanding questions - what causes its 5.5 year spectroscopic cycle, what is the origin of its famous “great eruption,” and what is the underlying source of its instability?

Type
Research Article
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 187: Exotic Stars as Challenges to Evolution , 2002 , pp. 79 - 94
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2002

References

Allen, D.A., & Hillier, D.J. 1993, Proc. Astron. Soc. Aust., 10, 338 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corcoran, M.F., Ishibashi, K., Swank, J.H., & Petre, R. 2001, ApJ, 547, 1034 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, P., Mezger, P.G., Sievers, A., Najarro, F., Bronfman, L., Kreysa, E., & Hasiam, G. 1995, A&A, 297, 168 Google Scholar
Damineli, A. 1996, ApJ, 460, L49 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dammeli, A., Conti, P., & Lopes, D.F. 1997, New Astron., 2, 107 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Damineli, A., Kaufer, A., Wolf, B., Stahl, O., Lopes, D.F., & de Araujo, F.X. 2000, ApJ, 528, 101 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, K. 1997, New Astron., 2, 387 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, K. 1999, in ASP Conf. Ser. 179, Eta Carinae at the Millenium, ed. Morse, J.A., Humphreys, R.M., & Damineli, A. (San Francisco: ASP), 304 Google Scholar
Davidson, K. 2001, in ASP Conf. Ser. 242, Eta Carinae and Other Mysterious Stars: The Hidden Opportunities of Emission Spectroscopy, ed. Gull, T.R., Johannson, S., & Davidson, K. (San Francisco: ASP), 3 Google Scholar
Davidson, K., Dufour, R.J., Walborn, N.R., & Gull, T.R. 1986, ApJ, 305, 867 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, K., Ebbets, D., Johansson, S., Morse, J.A., & F.W., Hamann 1997, AJ, 113, 335 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, K., Ebbets, D., Weigelt, G., Humphreys, R.M., Hajian, A.R., Walborn, N.R., & Rosa, M. 1995, AJ, 109, 1784 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, K., Gull, T.R., Humphreys, R.M., et al. 1999a, AJ, 118, 1777 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, K., & Humphreys, R.M. 1997, ARA&A, 35, 1 Google Scholar
Davidson, K., Ishibashi, K., Gull, T.R., & Humphreys, R.M. 1999b, in ASP Conf. Ser. 179, Eta Carinae at the Millenium, ed. Morse, J.A., Humphreys, R.M., & Dammeli, A. (San Francisco: ASP), 227 Google Scholar
Davidson, K., Ishibashi, K., Gull, T.R., Humphreys, R.M., & Smith, N. 2000, ApJ, 530, 107 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, K., & Ruiz, M.T. 1975, ApJ 202, 421 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, K., Smith, K., Gull, T.R., Ishibashi, K., & Hillier, D.J. 2001, AJ, 121, 1569 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, K., Walborn, N.R., & Gull, T.R. 1982, ApJ, 254, L47 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Groot, M. 1988, Irish Astron. J., 18, 163 Google Scholar
de Vaucouleurs, G., & Eggen, O.C. 1952, PASP, 64, 185 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drissen, L., Roy, J.-R., & Robert, C. 1997, ApJ, 474, L35 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dufour, R.J. 1989, Rev. Mex. Astron. Astrofis., 18, 87 Google Scholar
Dufour, R.J., Glover, T.W., Hester, J.J., Currie, D.G., van Orsow, D., & Walter, D.K. 1999, in ASP Conf. Ser. 179, Eta Carinae at the Millenium, ed. Morse, J.A., Humphreys, R.M., & Damineli, A. (San Francisco: ASP), 134 Google Scholar
Feast, M.W., Whitelock, P., & Marang, F. 2001, MNRAS, 322, 741 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Figer, D.F., Najarro, F., Morris, M., McLean, I.S., & Geballe, T.R. 1998, ApJ, 506, 384 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Filippenko, A.V. 2000, IAU Circ., 7421 Google Scholar
Filippenko, A.V., Barth, A.J., Bower, G.C., Ho, L.C., Stringfellow, G.S., Goodrich, R.W., & Porter, A.C. 1995, AJ, 110, 2261 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Filippenko, A.V., Li, W.D., & Modjaz, M. 1999, IAU Circ., 7152 Google Scholar
Gaviola, E. 1950, ApJ, 111, 408 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaviola, E. 1953, ApJ, 118, 234 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gehrz, R.D., & Ney, E.P. 1972, Sky & Telescope, 44, 4 Google Scholar
Glatzel, W. 1999, in IAU Coll. 169, Variable and Non-spherical Stellar Winds in Luminous Hot Stars, ed Wolf, B., Stahl, O., & Fullerton, A.W. (Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag), 345 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodrich, R.W., Stringfellow, G.S., Penrod, G.D., & Filippenko, A.V. 1989, ApJ, 342, 908 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guzik, J.A., Cox, A.N., & Despain, K.M. 1999a, in ASP Conf. Ser. 179, Eta Carinae at the Millenium, ed. Morse, J.A., Humphreys, R.M., & Damineli, A. (San Francisco: ASP), 347 Google Scholar
Guzik, J.A., Cox, A.N., Despain, K.M., & Soukup, M.S. 1999b, in IAU Coll. 169, Variable and Non-Spherical Stellar Winds in Luminous Hot Stars, ed Wolf, B., Stahl, O., & Fullerton, A.W. (Berlin: Springer-Verlag), 337 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hackwell, J.A., Gehrz, R.D., & Grasdalen, G.L. 1986, ApJ, 311, 380 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hillier, D.J., Davidson, K., Ishibashi, K., & Guli, T. 2001, ApJ, 553, 837 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hofmann, K.-H., & Weigelt, G. 1988, A&A, 203, L1 Google Scholar
Humphreys, R.M., & Davidson, K. 1994, PASP, 106, 1025 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Humphreys, R.M., Davidson, K., & Smith, N. 1999, PASP, 111, 1124 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ishibashi, K. 2001, in ASP Conf. Ser. 242, Eta Carinae and Other Mysterious Stars: The Hidden Opportunities of Emission Spectroscopy, ed. Gull, T.R., Johannson, S., & Davidson, K. (San Francisco: ASP), 53 Google Scholar
Ishibashi, K., Corcoran, M.F., Davidson, K., Swank, J.H., Petre, R., Drake, S.A., Damineli, A., & White, S. 1999, ApJ, 524, 983 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ishibashi, K., et al. 2002, in preparationGoogle Scholar
Lamers, H.J.G.L.M. 1997, in ASP Conf. Ser. 120, Luminous Blue Variables: Massive stars in Transition, ed. Nota, A. & Lamers, H.J.G.L.M. (San Francisco: ASP), 76 Google Scholar
Lamers, H.J.G.L.M., & de Groot, M. 1992, A&A, 257, 153 Google Scholar
Langer, N. 1998, A&A, 329, 551 Google Scholar
>Langer, N. 1999, in IAU Coll. 169, Variable and Non-spherical Stellar Winds in Luminous Hot Stars, ed Wolf, B., Stahl, O., & Fullerton, A.W. (Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag), 359 Google Scholar
Meaburn, J. 1999, in ASP Conf. Ser. Vol. 179, Eta Carinae at the Millenium, ed. Morse, J.A., Humphreys, R.M., & Damineli, A. (San Francisco: ASP), 89 Google Scholar
Meaburn, J., Gehring, G., Walsh, J.R., Palmer, J.W., Lopez, J.A., Lopez, J.A., Bryce, M., & Raga, A.C. 1993, A&A, 276, L21 Google Scholar
Mitchell, R.M., & Robinson, G. 1978, ApJ, 220, 841 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owocki, S.P., Cranmer, S.R., & Gayley, K.G. 1998, A&A, 260, 149 Google Scholar
Pittard, J.M., Stevens, I.R., Corcoran, M.F., & Ishibashi, K. 1998, MNRAS, 299, L5 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shaviv, N.J. 2000, ApJ, 494, L193 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, N., Davidson, K., Gull, T.R., & Ishibashi, K. 2002, in preparationGoogle Scholar
Smith, N., & Gehrz, R.D. 1998, AJ, 116, 823 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, N., Gehrz, R.D., & Krautter, J. 1998, AJ, 116, 1332 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stothers, R.B., & Chin, C.-W., 1997, ApJ, 489, 319 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tammann, G.A., & Sandage, A. 1968, ApJ, 151, 825 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Dyk, S.D., Peng, C.Y., King, J.Y., Filippenko, A.V., Treffers, R.R., Li, W., & Richmond, M.W. 2000, PASP, 112, 1532 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wagner, R.M., et al. 2000, BAAS, 32, 1474 Google Scholar
Walborn, N.R. 1976, ApJ, 204, L17 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walborn, N.R., & Blanco, B. 1988 PASP, 100, 797 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walborn, N.R., Blanco, B., & Thackeray, A.D. 1978, ApJ, 219, 498 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weigelt, G., et al. 1996, private communicationGoogle Scholar
Weigelt, G., & Ebersberger, J. 1986, A&A, 163, L5 Google Scholar
Weis, K., Duschl, W., & Chu, Y.-H. 1999, A&A, 349, 467 Google Scholar
Westphal, J.A., & Neugebauer, G. 1969, ApJ, 156, L45 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, S.M., Duncan, R.A., Lim, J., Nelson, G.J., Drake, S.A., & Kundu, M.R. 1994, ApJ, 429, 380 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitelock, P.A., Feast, M.W., Koen, C., Roberts, G., & Carter, B.S. 1994, MNRAS, 270, 364 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zanella, R., Wolf, B., & Stahl, O. 1984, A&A, 137, 79 Google Scholar