Abstract
Taken at face value, the observed properties of the central object in eta Carinae suggest a very massive, hot main-sequence star, only slightly evolved. If this is so, the star's extraordinarily high steady rate of mass loss must dynamically perturb its outer envelope down to the iron convection zone, in which the kinetic energy associated with turbulent convection can be directly fed into mass ejection. Runaway mass loss, triggered by either internal (pulsational, rotational) or external (tidal) forcing, would produce a secular oscillation of the outer envelope. In either case, the oscillation is potentially able to account for the observed approximately 5 yr cycles of visual outbursts in eta Car, including the giant eruption of 1843.
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