A high-velocity transient outflow in Eta Carinae

TL;DR

This study examines X-ray spectral line velocity profiles of Eta Carinae at different orbital phases, revealing high-velocity outflows likely caused by collimated ionized gas jets near periastron.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of velocity profile changes in Eta Carinae's X-ray emission, identifying high-velocity outflows not explained by binary wind interactions.

Findings

Symmetrical lines far from periastron centered at zero velocity.

Line broadening and blue-shifts near periastron.

Detection of high-velocity (~2000 km/sec) outflows during flares.

Abstract

We analyze velocity profiles of the X-ray spectral lines emitted by the Eta Carinae stellar binary at four epochs, just before the X-ray minimum (associated with periastron) and more than two years before the minimum (~apastron). The profiles are nicely resolved by the HETGS spectrometer on board Chandra. Far from periastron, we find symmetrical lines that are more or less centered at zero velocity. Closer to periastron, the lines broaden, shift towards the blue, and become visibly asymmetric. While the quiescent X-ray emission and slight (<200 km/sec) centroid shifts can be ascribed to the ordinary continuous binary wind interaction and to the orbital velocity of the secondary star, the observed high-velocity emission up to ~2,000 km/sec and the abrupt flares during which it occurs can not. This leads us to interpret the high-velocity flaring emission as due to a fast collimated outflow of ionized gas.