Eta Carinae is a binary system that contains one of the most massive stars in the Galaxy, over 100 solar masses. In 1843, it underwent an enormous outburst that created the dusty, bipolar Homunculus nebula that now stretches some 4000 astronomical units from the star and has a mass of 10-30 solar masses.  In recent years there have been surprising detections of molecules in the nebula, including H2, located in the walls of the Homunculus, and relatively high abundances of nitrogen-bearing molecules such as NH3, CN, HCN, HNC and N2H+, which appear to originate very close to the very hot, luminous central star.  The detection of an over-abundance of nitrogen and 13C indicates that molecules have formed out of the nuclear-processed stellar ejecta.I will discuss current models for the formation of molecules in the nebula, showing that they are able to form on a time-scale of months in the hot, dense gas close to the central star, despite very heavy irradiation by UV and X-rays photons. Although the models have some success at explaining the observed abundances, their limitations suggest that the complex geometry and physical interaction of the two stars in the system can create transient conditions in which molecule formation is enhanced.In addition to theoretical models, I will also present the results of observational searches for molecular emission using the APEX and ATCA telescopes.

Eta Carinae: Astrochemistry in an extreme environment

247th National Meeting (2014)

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