The orbital kinematics of η Carinae over three periastra with a possible detection of the elusive secondary’s motion

Author:

Strawn Emily1,Richardson Noel D1ORCID,Moffat Anthony F J2,Ibrahim Nour13,Lane Alexis1,Pickett Connor1ORCID,Chené André-Nicolas4ORCID,Corcoran Michael F56,Damineli Augusto7ORCID,Gull Theodore R89ORCID,Hillier D John10ORCID,Morris Patrick11ORCID,Pablo Herbert12ORCID,Thomas Joshua D13ORCID,Stevens Ian R14ORCID,Teodoro Mairan9ORCID,Weigelt Gerd15

Affiliation:

1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University , 3700 Willow Creek Road, Prescott, AZ 86301, USA

2. Département de physique, Université de Montréal, Complexe des Sciences , 1375 Avenue Thérèse-Lavoie-Roux, Montréal, QC H2V 0B3, Canada

3. Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan , 1085 S. University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

4. NSF’s NOIRLab , 670 N. A’ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720, USA

5. CRESST & X-ray Astrophysics Laboratory, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

6. Institute for Astrophysics and Computational Sciences, The Catholic University of America , 620 Michigan Ave., N.E., Washington, DC 20064, USA

7. Universidade de São Paulo, Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas , Rua do Matão, 1226, São Paulo - SP 05508-090, Brazil

8. Exoplanets & Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

9. Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA

10. Department of Physics & Astronomy & Pittsburgh Particle Physics, Astrophysics, & Cosmology Center (PITT PACC), University of Pittsburgh , 3941 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA

11. California Institute of Technology , IPAC, M/C 100-22, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

12. American Association of Variable Star Observers , 49 Bay State Road, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

13. Department of Physics, Clarkson University , 8 Clarkson Ave., Potsdam, NY 13699, USA

14. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham , Birmingham B15 2TT, UK

15. Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy , Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn, Germany

Abstract

ABSTRACT The binary η Carinae is the closest example of a very massive star, which may have formed through a merger during its Great Eruption in the mid-19th century. We aimed to confirm and improve the kinematics using a spectroscopic data set taken with the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 1.5-m telescope over the time period of 2008–2020, covering three periastron passages of the highly eccentric orbit. We measure line variability of H α and H β, where the radial velocity and orbital kinematics of the primary star were measured from the H β emission line using a bisector method. At phases away from periastron, we observed the He ii 4686 emission moving opposite the primary star, consistent with a possible Wolf–Rayet companion, although with a seemingly narrow emission line. This could represent the first detection of emission from the companion.

Funder

NOAO

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Arizona Space Grant

FAPESP

NSERC

NASA

National Science Foundation

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Subject

Space and Planetary Science,Astronomy and Astrophysics

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