3D Radiative Transfer in $\eta$ Carinae: Application of the SimpleX Algorithm to 3D SPH Simulations of Binary Colliding Winds
Eta Carinae is an ideal astrophysical laboratory for studying massive binary interactions and evolution, and stellar wind-wind collisions. Recent three-dimensional (3D) simulations set the stage for understanding the highly complex 3D flows in $\eta$ Car. Observations of different broad high- and lo...
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Main Authors | , , , , |
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Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
27.06.2014
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Eta Carinae is an ideal astrophysical laboratory for studying massive binary
interactions and evolution, and stellar wind-wind collisions. Recent
three-dimensional (3D) simulations set the stage for understanding the highly
complex 3D flows in $\eta$ Car. Observations of different broad high- and
low-ionization forbidden emission lines provide an excellent tool to constrain
the orientation of the system, the primary's mass-loss rate, and the ionizing
flux of the hot secondary. In this work we present the first steps towards
generating synthetic observations to compare with available and future HST/STIS
data. We present initial results from full 3D radiative transfer simulations of
the interacting winds in $\eta$ Car. We use the SimpleX algorithm to
post-process the output from 3D SPH simulations and obtain the ionization
fractions of hydrogen and helium assuming three different mass-loss rates for
the primary star. The resultant ionization maps of both species constrain the
regions where the observed forbidden emission lines can form. Including
collisional ionization is necessary to achieve a better description of the
ionization states, especially in the areas shielded from the secondary's
radiation. We find that reducing the primary's mass-loss rate increases the
volume of ionized gas, creating larger areas where the forbidden emission lines
can form. We conclude that post processing 3D SPH data with SimpleX is a viable
tool to create ionization maps for $\eta$ Car. |
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DOI: | 10.48550/arxiv.1406.7240 |