X-ray Modeling of η Carinae and WR140 From Hydrodynamic Simulations
Abstract
The colliding wind binary (CWB) systems Eta Carinae and WR140 provide unique laboratories for X-ray astrophysics. Their wind-wind collisions produce hard X-rays, which have been monitored extensively by several X-ray telescopes, such as RXTE and Chandra. To interpret these X-ray light curves and spectra, we apply 3D hydrodynamic simulations of the wind-wind collision using both smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) and finite difference methods. We find isothermal simulations that account for the absorption of X-rays from an assumed point source of X-ray emission at the apex of the wind-collision shock cone can closely match the RXTE light curves of both Eta Carinae and WR140. We are now applying simulations with self-consistent energy balance and extended X-ray emission to model the observed X-ray spectra. We present these results and discuss efforts to understand the earlier recovery of Eta Carinae's RXTE light curve from the 2009 minimum.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #215
- Pub Date:
- January 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010AAS...21542602R