By Edmund Garcia

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Matthew Fleenor

Abstract

Eta Carinae is a late-stage, extremely massive, Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) at the Eddington Limit and is the larger companion of a binary star system. Through narrowband photometric observations of the region made with the PROMPT-5 telescope, a shell-like structure was revealed ~3 pc from the stellar system. Surprisingly, this shell shows near-axial alignment with the bipolar Homunculus Nebula (R ~0.1 pc). This detection resulted in a deeper observation of the surrounding region to investigate similar symmetric structures. The current research investigates the potential physical connection between these two aligned structures and the eruptive nature of Eta Carinae. Using dynamical analysis from similar interstellar, momentum-driven processes, we quantify state variables in the region to determine a velocity profile. This profile establishes a timescale for the evolution of Homunculus into the surrounding medium. This result improves on a crude calculation of 4500 years between eruptions and contributes to the unknown sporadic mass-loss characteristics of LBVs. Having established a working model for the Eta Carinae region, other LBV systems will be investigated. (Supported by: Skynet Robotic Telescope Network and DOD Grant HQ00342110018 in conjunction with the Multi-wavelength Universe (MWU!) astronomy curriculum). Author contact: egarcia@mail.umw.edu