Epsilon Aurigae in Total Eclipse, 2010 - Mid-eclipse report

TL;DR

This paper reports on extensive observational data collected during the 2010 total eclipse of Epsilon Aurigae, revealing a dark disk through interferometry and new spectral insights into the system's structure.

Contribution

It provides new interferometric imaging and spectral data that confirm the presence of a dark disk and reveal substructure, advancing understanding of Epsilon Aurigae's complex binary system.

Findings

Interferometric imaging confirmed the dark disk in transit.

Spectral observations revealed substructure within the disk.

Breakthrough infrared and ultraviolet spectral energy distribution data.

Abstract

Epsilon Aurigae is a complicated binary star that undergoes optical eclipses every 27 years, including the present year. An update is given here on the array of photometric and spectroscopic observations underway, thanks to the eclipse observing campaign and its dedicated participants. In addition, breakthrough results have emerged from (1) infrared and ultraviolet spectral energy distribution observations, and (2) especially with interferometric imaging that revealed the long suspected dark disk in transit, plus (3) new optical spectra that are revealing substructure inside the disk itself. Implications of many of these observations is discussed, but as the eclipse data are still being collected, I anticipate that additional discoveries are still to come, throughout 2010, and beyond.