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Register a new userChandra X-ray Grating Spectrometry of Eta Carinae near X-ray Minimum: I. Variability of the Sulfur and Silicon Emission Lines
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We report on variations in important X-ray emission lines in a series of Chandra grating spectra of the supermassive colliding wind binary star Eta Carinae, including key phases around the X-ray minimum/periastron passage in 2003.5. The X-rays arise from the collision of the slow, dense wind of Eta Car with the fast, low-density wind of an otherwise hidden companion star. The X-ray emission lines provide the only direct measure of the flow dynamics of the companions wind along the wind-wind collision zone. We concentrate here on the silicon and sulfur lines, which are the strongest and best resolved lines in the X-ray spectra. Most of the line profiles can be adequately fit with symmetric Gaussians with little significant skewness. Both the silicon and sulfur lines show significant velocity shifts and correlated increases in line widths through the observations. The R = forbidden-to-intercombination ratio from the Si XIII and S XV triplets is near or above the low-density limit in all observations, suggesting that the line-forming region is >1.6 stellar radii from the companion star. We show that simple geometrical models cannot simultaneously fit both the observed centroid variations and changes in line width as a function of phase. We show that the observed profiles can be fitted with synthetic profiles with a reasonable model of the emissivity along the wind-wind collision boundary. We use this analysis to help constrain the line formation region as a function of orbital phase, and the orbital geometry.
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The massive binary system Eta Carinae is characterized by intense colliding winds that form shocks and emit X-rays. The system is highly eccentric ($esimeq0.9$), resulting in modulated X-ray emission during its 5.54 year orbit. The X-ray flux increases in the months prior to periastron passage, exhibiting strong flares, then rapidly declines to a flat minimum lasting a few weeks, followed by a gradual recovery. We present Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) telescope spectra obtained before, during, and after the 2020 X-ray minimum, and perform spectral analysis to establish the temporal behavior of X-ray flux and X-ray-absorbing column density ($N_{rm H}(t)$) for the 2-10 keV and 5-10 keV energy ranges. The latter range is dominated by the stellar wind collision region and, therefore, these spectral parameters - in particular, $N_{rm H}(t)$ - serves as a potentially stringent constraint on the binary orientation. We compare the observed $N_{rm H}(t)$ results to the behavior predicted by a simple geometrical model in an attempt to ascertain which star is closer to us at periastron: the more massive primary ($omega simeq 240$-$270^circ$), or the secondary ($omega simeq 90^circ$). We find that the variations in column density, both far from periastron and around periastron passage, support the latter configuration ($omega simeq 90^circ$). The 2020 X-ray minimum showed the fastest recovery among the last five minima, providing additional evidence for a recent weakening of the primary stars wind.
We observed the massive binary stellar system of Eta Carinae in the 0.3-10 keV energy range with the X-ray Telescope onboard the Swift satellite during the period 15 December 2008 - 11 March 2009, i.e. 1 month before to 2 months after the X-ray drop from maximum to minimum, thought to be associated with the periastron encounter of the primary star by the hot companion. Beginning a few months before eclipse, the interaction between the winds of the two stars intensifies and the X-ray flux reaches maximum. The flux drops dramatically thereafter, subsiding in about 20 days to a level that is at least a factor 10 lower than the high state, i.e. the X-ray emission state of the system during the largest fraction of its 5.52 yr orbit (~e-11 erg/s/cm2). Unlike in previous cycles, when the low state lasted about 2.5 months, observations with RXTE showed that the X-ray flux started its recovery to normal level about 1.5 months after the minimum. We suggest that this early recovery may be due to the fact that the companion wind reaches terminal velocity before encountering the shock.
Eta Carinae is the nearest example of a supermassive, superluminous, unstable star. Mass loss from the system is critical in shaping its circumstellar medium and in determining its ultimate fate. Eta Car currently loses mass via a dense, slow stellar wind and possesses one of the largest mass loss rates known. It is prone to episodes of extreme mass ejection via eruptions from some as-yet unspecified cause; the best examples of this are the large-scale eruptions which occurred in 19th century. Eta Car is a colliding wind binary in which strong variations in X-ray emission and in other wavebands are driven by the violent collision of the wind of eta Car-A and the fast, less dense wind of an otherwise hidden companion star. X-ray variations are the simplest diagnostic we have to study the wind-wind collision and allow us to measure the state of the stellar mass loss from both stars. We present the X-ray lightcurve over the last 20 years from ROSAT observations and monitoring with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer and the X-ray Telescope on the Swift satellite. We compare and contrast the behavior of the X-ray emission from the system over that timespan, including surprising variations during the 2014 X-ray minimum.
The binary system $eta$ Carinae is a unique laboratory in which to study particle acceleration to high energies under a wide range of conditions, including extremely high densities around periastron. To date, no consensus has emerged as to the origin of the GeV $gamma$-ray emission in this important system. With a re-analysis of the full Fermi-LAT dataset for $eta$ Carinae we show that the spectrum is consistent with a pion decay origin. A single population leptonic model connecting the X-ray to $gamma$-ray emission can be ruled out. Here, we revisit the physical model of Ohm et al. (2015), based on two acceleration zones associated to the termination shocks in the winds of both stars. We conclude that inverse-Compton emission from in-situ accelerated electrons dominates the hard X-ray emission detected with NuSTAR at all phases away from periastron, and pion-decay from shock accelerated protons is the source of the $gamma$-ray emission. Very close to periastron there is a pronounced dip in the hard X-ray emission, concomitant with the repeated disappearance of the thermal X-ray emission, which we interpret as being due to the suppression of significant electron acceleration in the system. Within our model, the residual emission seen by NuSTAR at this phase can be accounted for with secondary electrons produced in interactions of accelerated protons, in agreement with the variation in pion-decay $gamma$-ray emission. Future observations with H.E.S.S., CTA and NuSTAR should confirm or refute this scenario.
The luminous unstable star (star system) eta Carinae is surrounded by an optically bright bipolar nebula, the Homunculus and a fainter but much larger nebula, the so-called outer ejecta. As images from the EINSTEIN and ROSAT satellites have shown, the outer ejecta is also visible in soft X-rays, while the central source is present in the harder X-ray bands. With our CHANDRA observations we show that the morphology and properties of the X-ray nebula are the result of shocks from fast clumps in the outer ejecta moving into a pre-existing denser circumstellar medium. An additional contribution to the soft X-ray flux results from mutual interactions of clumps within the ejecta. Spectra extracted from the CHANDRA data yield gas temperatures kT of 0.6-0.76 keV. The implied pre-shock velocities of 670-760 km/s are within the scatter of the velocities we measure for the majority of the clumps in the corresponding regions. Significant nitrogen enhancements over solar abundances are needed for acceptable fits in all parts of the outer ejecta, consistent with CNO processed material and non-uniform enhancement. The presence of a diffuse spot of hard X-ray emission at the S condensation shows some contribution of the highest velocity clumps and further underlines the multicomponent, non-equilibrium nature of the X-ray nebula. The detection of an X-ray ``bridge between the northern and southern part of the X-ray nebula and an X-ray shadow at the position of the NN bow can be attributed to a large expanding disk, which would appear as an extension of the equatorial disk. No soft emission is seen from the Homunculus, or from the NN bow or the ``strings.
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