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Results from the 2003 event in Eta Carinae
The results of the 2003 observing campaign of Eta Carinae are starting to be processed and published. One paper approved for publication in the Astronomical Journal (April 2004), co-authored by AAVSO member and observer Michael Koppelman, is titled "Eta Carinae's Brightness Variations Since 1998: HST Observations of the Central Star". This team has measured the brightness variations of Eta Carinae with the Hubble Space Telescope over the past six years which enabled them to resolve only the central star and not the surrounding bright ejecta. They have obtained some interesting results; a quote from their abstract follows. "The dip in the apparent brightness of the central star at the time of the 2003.5 event is wavelength dependent with no decrease in the continuum. These observations cast doubt on a simple eclipse or occultation as the explanation for the dip and place constraints on the models for the event." (J. Martin, M. Koppelman, et al.) You can find the complete abstract to this paper as well as a preprint of the full text here: AAVSO observations, although they are ground-based and would therefore include the bright regions surrounding the central star, were analyzed in this paper because they provide a longer temporal baseline than can be obtained elsewhere. The AAVSO data show many of the same features as the HST data, albeit at a different magnitude. Thank you to all AAVSO observers of Eta Car, especially the 110 that contributed to this paper -- your work was a valuable part of this research! More information:
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