Detection of the compressed primary stellar wind in eta Carinae
arXiv:1307.3244 · doi:10.1088/2041-8205/773/1/L16
Abstract
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.
Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters