Go Back   IceInSpace > General Astronomy > Astronomy and Amateur Science

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread
  #1  
Old 31-01-2019, 10:18 AM
gary
Registered User

gary is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Mt. Kuring-Gai
Posts: 5,914
Unhappy Homunculus is rapidly becoming obscured by the brightening of Eta Carina

A press release by the Université de Montréal in Canada today announces a
finding that the Homunculus is rapidly becoming obscured by the brightening
of Eta Carina, so much so that perhaps within a decade, and almost certainly
by 2036, it will be difficult to see.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Université de Montréal
A team of 17 researchers led by Brazilian astronomer Augusto Damineli, with input from Université de Montréal's Anthony Moffatt, believe that the increasing brightness of Eta Carinae is not intrinsic to the star itself, as is commonly believed. In fact, it is likely caused by the dissipation of a dust cloud positioned exactly in front of it as seen from the Earth.

This cloud, the researchers posit in a new study in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, completely shrouds the star and its winds, blotting out much of its light emanating towards Earth. The surrounding Homunculus, by contrast, can be seen directly because it is 200 times larger than the obscuring cloudlet and its brightness is thus almost unaffected.

In 2032 (with an uncertainty of plus or minus four years), the dusty cloud will have dissipated, so that the brightness of the central star will no longer increase and the Homunculus will be lost in its glare, the research team believes.

And that will provide an opportunity for deeper study of Eta Carinae itself, even showing that it is not one, but in fact two, stars.

I guess we've been lucky to live through a time to have seen it and it
is what it is, but from an observational point of view it will be sad to
see it become obscured.

But one day there are those, perhaps even us, who might witness Eta
Carina going supernova which would be quite a show.

Press Release :-
https://nouvelles.umontreal.ca/en/ar...the-night-sky/

"Distinguishing Circumstellar from Stellar Photometric Variability in Eta Carinae" by Augusto Damineli et. al. abstract :-
https://arxiv.org/abs/1901.00531

Full paper (free, pdf) :-
https://arxiv.org/pdf/1901.00531.pdf
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 31-01-2019, 12:56 PM
Saturnine (Jeff)
Registered User

Saturnine is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Wollongong
Posts: 2,134
Even more reason for us to observe and / or image the Homunculus as much as possible over the next decade whilst waiting for Eta to go bang.
As always, another informative post, thanks Gary.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 31-01-2019, 01:39 PM
glend (Glen)
Registered User

glend is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Lake Macquarie
Posts: 7,033
Still shows up just fine in narrowband, so imaging will not be a problem in our life times imho.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 31-01-2019, 05:45 PM
multiweb's Avatar
multiweb (Marc)
ze frogginator

multiweb is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Sydney
Posts: 22,060
Saw that figure 8 lobes in Paul Hatchman's 20" from wiruna years ago and imaged it so many times too. oh well....M8 is still intact.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 31-01-2019, 07:37 PM
RobF's Avatar
RobF (Rob)
Mostly harmless...

RobF is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posts: 5,716
What sort of scope do you currently need to see it?
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 31-01-2019, 08:26 PM
gary
Registered User

gary is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Mt. Kuring-Gai
Posts: 5,914
Quote:
Originally Posted by RobF View Post
What sort of scope do you currently need to see it?
Hi Rob,

It is seen even in an 8" as a small peanut shaped object.

To see the filaments within the Homunculus, something like an 18"
or 20" readily does it under magnification and with good seeing.

It really does look angry.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 31-01-2019, 08:34 PM
astroron's Avatar
astroron (Ron)
Supernova Searcher

astroron is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Cambroon Queensland Australia
Posts: 9,313
Quote:
Originally Posted by RobF View Post
What sort of scope do you currently need to see it?
Rob on nights of good seeing lots of detail including filaments can be seen in the 16".
One of the sideways jets stands out also.
Cheers
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 01-02-2019, 04:18 AM
skysurfer's Avatar
skysurfer
Dark sky rules !

skysurfer is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: 52N 6E (EU)
Posts: 1,152
Quote:
Originally Posted by gary View Post
Hi Rob,

It is seen even in an 8" as a small peanut shaped object.

To see the filaments within the Homunculus, something like an 18"
or 20" readily does it under magnification and with good seeing.

It really does look angry.
I saw it in 2016 with a C14 on a star party and thought it was an optical flaw, but it is real. Then I looked it up with my much fainter ED110 but could still see it very faint.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 01-02-2019, 12:54 PM
mental4astro's Avatar
mental4astro (Alexander)
kids+wife+scopes=happyman

mental4astro is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: sydney, australia
Posts: 4,979
I'm a bit confused - is it fading or will it be overwhelmed by light?

Alex.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 01-02-2019, 12:55 PM
bojan's Avatar
bojan
amateur

bojan is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Mt Waverley, VIC
Posts: 6,932
Quote:
Originally Posted by mental4astro View Post
I'm a bit confused - is it fading or will it be overwhelmed by light?

Alex.

It will be overwhelmed by light of the eta system itself.
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 01-02-2019, 04:04 PM
mental4astro's Avatar
mental4astro (Alexander)
kids+wife+scopes=happyman

mental4astro is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: sydney, australia
Posts: 4,979
I thought that was the case. So not fading or dimming.

So, it's the dust between us and the Hommunculous that's dissipating, and it is this dust that has toned down the light coming from Eta Carina that's allowed us to view the Hommunculous. What a fortunate set of circumstances and timing that has allowed us to view it at this time of our history/existence!
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 02-02-2019, 05:44 AM
bojan's Avatar
bojan
amateur

bojan is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Mt Waverley, VIC
Posts: 6,932
Quote:
Originally Posted by mental4astro View Post
I thought that was the case. So not fading or dimming.

So, it's the dust between us and the Hommunculous that's dissipating, and it is this dust that has toned down the light coming from Eta Carina that's allowed us to view the Hommunculous. What a fortunate set of circumstances and timing that has allowed us to view it at this time of our history/existence!
Yes.. I think in general we are living in a very special times....
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 02-02-2019, 02:41 PM
Peter Ward's Avatar
Peter Ward
Galaxy hitchhiking guide

Peter Ward is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: The Shire
Posts: 8,090
I was unaware of that paper until your post (BTW thanks!) and due to my CCD camera being serviced in the USA at the moment.....
....put this odd thing called an eyepiece (TeleVue Nagler) on the end of my RC16 and had a gander at Eta last week....it had been a couple of years since I observed it visually.

My first thought was "Hummm... Eta looks brighter! "

Seems I was not imagining the change in appearance.

Eta going supernova in the next few years would however be way cool!
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 04-02-2019, 10:53 AM
N1 (Mirko)
Registered User

N1 is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Dunners Nu Zulland
Posts: 1,661
I spent some time viewing it on 1 February, using an 8" dob, and powers around 200x. Both lobes were very obvious, indicating above-average seeing that night. The nearer lobe (SE) was visibly brighter than the one on the far side (NW).

Quote:
Originally Posted by gary View Post
Originally Posted by RobF http://www.iceinspace.com.au/vbiis/i...s/viewpost.gif
What sort of scope do you currently need to see it?

Hi Rob,

It is seen even in an 8" as a small peanut shaped object.

To see the filaments within the Homunculus, something like an 18"
or 20" readily does it under magnification and with good seeing.

It really does look angry.
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 28-02-2019, 12:39 PM
skysurfer's Avatar
skysurfer
Dark sky rules !

skysurfer is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: 52N 6E (EU)
Posts: 1,152
So a new brightening to -1 (brighter than Canopus) in the 2030s ? Like almost 200 years ago in 1841 ?
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 01:20 AM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement
Testar
Advertisement