J/A+A/493/1093 BVRI light curves of η Car (Fernandez-Lajus+, 2009)
Long-Term Optical Monitoring of η Carinae.
Multiband light curves for a complete orbital period.
Fernandez-Lajus E., Farina C., Torres A.F., Schwartz M.A., Salerno N.,
Calderon J.P., von Essen C., Calcaferro L.M., Giudici F., Llinares C.,
Niemela V.
<Astron. Astrophys. 493, 1093 (2009)>
=2009A&A...493.1093F 2009A&A...493.1093F
ADC_Keywords: Stars, variable ; Photometry, CCD ; Photometry, UBVRI
Keywords: stars: circumstellar matter - stars: variables: general -
stars: individual: eta Carinae - techniques: photometric
Abstract:
The periodicity of 5.5 years for some observational events occurring
in η Carinae manifests itself across a large wavelength range and
has been associated with its binary nature. These events are supposed
to occur when the binary components are close to periastron. To detect
the previous periastron passage of η Car in 2003, we started an
intensive, ground-based, optical, photometric observing campaign. We
continued observing the object to monitor its photometric behavior and
variability across the entire orbital cycle. Our observation program
consisted of daily differential photometry from CCD images, which were
acquired using a 0.8m telescope and a standard BVRI filter set at La
Plata Observatory. The photometry includes the central object and the
surrounding Homunculus nebula. We present up-to-date results of our
observing program, including homogeneous photometric data collected
between 2003 and 2008. Our observations demonstrated that η Car
has continued increasing in brightness at a constant rate since 1998.
In 2006, it reached its brightest magnitude (V∼4.7) since about
1860s. The object then suddenly reverted its brightening trend, fading
to V=5.0 at the beginning of 2007, and has maintained a quite steady
state since then. We continue the photometric monitoring of η Car
in anticipation of the next "periastron passage", predicted to occur
at the beginning of 2009.
Objects:
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RA (2000) DE Designation(s)
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10 45 03.6 -59 41 04 eta Car = V* eta Car
10 45 06.8 -59 41 57 CPD-59 2627 = Cl* Trumpler 16 CRV 12
10 45 08.3 -59 40 50 CPD-59 2628 = V* V573 Car
10 45 05.8 -59 40 06 HDE303308 = HD 303308
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File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
table2.dat 58 2442 BVRI light curves of eta Car
table3.dat 37 1747 Visual light curve of eta Car 1822-2008
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See also:
J/A+A/304/415 : uvby-Hbeta photometry of eta Car 1992-94 (van Genderen+, 1995)
J/A+A/343/847 : Geneva Photometry of eta Car (van Genderen+ 1999)
J/A+A/419/215 : Emission lines of eta Car (Hartman+, 2004)
J/AJ/129/2018 : RXTE scaled fluxes of eta Car (Corcoran+, 2005)
J/ApJS/71/983 : UV spectrum of eta Car (Viotti+ 1989)
J/ApJS/157/138 : UV spectrum of eta Car (Nielsen+, 2005)
J/ApJS/163/173 : UV spectrum of eta Car in 2003.5 (Gull+, 2006)
J/ApJS/168/289 : NUV spectrum of eta Car in 2003.5 (Nielsen+, 2007)
J/A+A/493/1093 : BVRI light curves of eta Car (Fernandez-Lajus+, 2009)
J/ApJS/181/473 : Eta Carinae: visible and near-IR analysis (Nielsen+, 2009)
J/other/NewA/15.108 : UBVRIHalpha of eta Car in 2009 (Fernandez-Lajus+ 2010)
Byte-by-byte Description of file: table2.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 12 F12.4 d JD Julian date
14 A1 --- Band [BVRI] Photometric band
16- 21 F6.3 mag Dmag1 η Car mean differential magnitude
23- 27 F5.3 mag e_Dmag1 η Car rms error of the mean magnitude
29- 33 F5.3 mag Dmag2 ?=- CPD-59 2627 mean differential magnitude
35- 39 F5.3 mag e_Dmag2 ?=- CPD-59 2627 rms error of the mean magnitude
41- 45 F5.3 mag Dmag3 ?=- CPD-59 2628 mean differential magnitude
47- 51 F5.3 mag e_Dmag3 ?=- CPD-59 2628 rms error of the mean magnitude
53- 55 F3.1 arcsec FWHM Full width half maximum of HDE303308
57- 58 I2 --- N Number of images considered for the mean values
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: table3.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 7 F7.2 yr Year Observation date
9- 13 F5.2 mag Vmag η Car visual magnitude
17- 37 A21 --- BibCode Reference
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Acknowledgements:
Eduardo Fernandez-Lajus, eflajus(at)fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar
(End) E. Fernandez-Lajus [U. Nac. La Plata Arg.], P. Vannier [CDS] 12-Dec-2008