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Session 34 - New Results on the Nature of Eta Carinae.
Oral session, Wednesday, January 07
Lincoln,
In 1996--1997 we obtained HST/GHRS and HST/FOS data on locations thought be be in the equatorial ejecta of Eta Carinae. One motivation was a desire to test the age of the equatorial debris-disk, which, according to some evidence, may be younger than the bipolar lobes. In fact, however, the velocities are inconsistent with both of the obvious models. The observed values may indicate the presence of old, slow material, or that the geometrical situation has been misinterpreted, or something else even more bizarre. This is one more instance of an important detail concerning Eta Car that should have been straightforward but which turns out instead to be, essentially, not understood.
