Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 133, 299-316
A. Damineli1
- O. Stahl, A. Kaufer, B. Wolf2
- G. Quast3
- D.F. Lopes4
Send offprint request: damineli@iagusp.usp.br
1 - JILA University of Colorado and National Inst. for Standards and Technology, Boulder,
CO 80309-0440, U.S.A.
2 - Landessternwarte, Königstuhl, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
3 - Observatório Nacional, R. General José Cristino 77, 20921-440 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
4 - Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísica/CNPq, R. Estados Unidos 154, Caixa Postal
21, 37500-000 Itajubá, Brazil
Received April 20; accepted June 12, 1998
Quantitative measurements of line parameters in the spectrum of
Carinae are presented for both the broad and narrow
line components. A total of 655 spectral features were measured in the
spectral range 3850Å to 11000Å, giving a comprehensive view of
the behavior of atomic transitions ranging from a few to tens of
electron volts. The spectrum on the phase of maximum intensity in the
high excitation lines (1995) is compared with that on minimum
intensity (June 1992), showing that at this phase the high excitation
lines disappear but the broad components of low excitation lines
strengthens. We reject a number of previous line identifications and
propose several new ones, including Fe II, [Fe II],
[Fe III], [N II], and the near-infrared Ca II
triplet. Some lines commonly used to diagnose density, temperature,
chemical composition, and reddening were found to be blended, urging a
revision of the results based on previous data. The existence of
double-peaked lines, suggested in previous papers, is ruled out. In
the case of hydrogen lines, the apparent double-peaks are shown to be
real absorption components. The velocity field in the inner 2
around the central star shows additional components previously
unknown. The phases of high and low excitation in
Carinae are
discussed in light of a recently proposed binary system. We suggest a
temperature T
16000K for the primary star, what indicates
that it is close to the beginning of the core helium-burning evolutionary stage.
Key words: stars: emission-line, Be -- stars: Hertzsprung-Russel (HR) diagram
-- stars: individual: Carinae -- binaries: general
Copyright The European Southern Observatory (ESO)