The [O III] Veil: Astropause of η Carinae's Wind?

Abstract

We present narrowband images of η Carinae in the light of [O III] λ5007 obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, as well as a ground-based image in the same emission line with a larger field of view. These images show a thin veil of [O III] emission around η Car and its ejecta, confirming the existence of an oxygen-bearing ``cocoon'' inferred from spectra. This [O III] veil may be the remnant of the preoutburst wind of η Car, and its outer edge probably marks the interface where η Car's ejecta meet the stellar wind of the nearby O4 V((f)) star HD 303308 or other ambient material in the Carina Nebula; i.e., it marks the ``astropause'' in η Car's wind. This veil is part of a more extensive [O III] shell that appears to be shaped and ionized by HD 303308. A pair of HST images with a 10 yr baseline shows no significant proper motion, limiting the expansion speed away from η Car to 12+/-13 km s^-1, or an expansion age of a few times 10⁴ yr. Thus, this is probably the decelerated preoutburst luminous blue variable wind of η Car. The [O III] morphology is very different from that seen in [N II], which traces younger dense knots of CNO-processed material; this represents a dramatic shift in the chemical makeup of material recently ejected by η Car. This change in the chemical abundances of the ejecta may have resulted from the sudden removal of the star's outer envelope during η Car's 19th century outburst or an earlier but similar event.

Based in part on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555.