Eta Carinae Superstar

Kanji Hamaguchi (NASA/GSFC)

Abstract: Eta Carinae is the best studied supermassive star on the way
to end its life as a supernova or hypernova explosion and/or a
gamma-ray burst.  Intensive multi-wavelength observations since the
late 1990's uncovered evidence of a binary system at the core of the
bipolar envelope ejected in the Great Eruption of the 1840's. However,
the characteristics of the two stellar components are not well
constrained as they are deeply cloaked in their massive interacting
winds. I introduce the latest picture of Eta Carinae obtained from an
observing campaign heavily focused on 2003 and 2008-9 observing
seasons, coincident with the two most recent periastron passages.