Astronomy public lecture "Eta Carinae in 3D without 3D glasses" New
Event dates
Events
Eta Carinae is the most massive and luminous stellar system within 10,000 light-years from Earth.
You are invited to another interesting talk at SA Astronomical Observatort on Saturday, November 28 at 20h00 where Dr. Nicola Clementel will present a talk titled "Eta Carinae in 3D without 3D glasses."
Summary of the talk
Eta Carinae is the most massive and luminous stellar system within 10,000 light-years from Earth. It is one of the most fascinating and intensely observed objects in our galaxy. It consists of two stars orbiting one another. The bigger star has approximately 90 times the mass of the Sun and it is millions of times brighter than the Sun. The smaller star, which has never been directly observed due to the immense brightness of the companion, is “only” 30 times the mass of the Sun. The high eccentric orbits bring the two massive stars extremely close every 5.5 years. They can be as far apart as the Sun and Neptune, or as close as the distance between the Sun and Mars. Both stars are so bright that they produce powerful mass ejections called stellar winds. The complex collision and interaction of their stellar winds together with the high luminosity of the two stars generates several observable phenomena, going from X-rays to radio wavelength, that change over the entire orbital period.
To better understand the system astronomers combine observations and computer simulations to predict how the gas should move and change as the stars orbit each other. In order to better visualise, study the physical characteristics, and understand what is going on at the heart of Eta Carinae, we also created 3D-printed models. The talk will take you to the discovery of the 3D world of the massive binary Eta Carinae.
