Abstract
Replying to K. Davidson & R. M. Humphreys Nature486,http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature11166(2012).
In our Letter1 reporting the light echoes of η Carinae we analysed the spectral characteristics of η Carinae during the Great Eruption of the mid-1800s, and found the line content to be similar to that of G supergiant stars. This we interpret as evidence that η Carinae’s Great Eruption was not a typical luminous blue variable (LBV) outburst, because spectra similar to those of F and A supergiant stars, earlier and hotter than G-type stars, are observed in LBV eruptions of all kinds, in agreement with theoretical predictions. Davidson & Humphreys2 object that our spectral type and temperature estimate are not sufficiently robust, and that the spectral features are in agreement with their theoretical predictions.
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References
Rest, A. et al. Light echoes reveal an unexpectedly cool η Carinae during its nineteenth-century Great Eruption. Nature 482, 375–378 (2012)
Davidson, K. & Humphreys, R. M. Nature 486, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature11166 (2012)
Soker, N. & Kashi, A. Echoes from an old outburst. Nature 482, 317–318 (2012)
Smith, N. et al. Mass and kinetic energy of the Homunculus Nebula around η Carinae. Astron. J. 125, 1458–1466 (2003)
Smith, N. A blast wave from the 1843 eruption of η Carinae. Nature 455, 201–203 (2008)
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Rest, A., Prieto, J., Walborn, N. et al. Rest et al. reply. Nature 486, E1–E2 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11167
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11167
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