Eta Carinae is now passing though a critical phase in its evolution as it recovers from its ``Great Eruption'' 170 years ago. About 12 years ago we began to see a dramatic and unpredicted change in eta Car's long-term behavior. The brightening rate suddenly accelerated, so by 2010 the central star had brightened by more than a factor of four in the near-UV. Between 2003 and 2010 the stellar-wind emission lines weakened by factors of 2 to 4(!) implying a rapid decrease in its mass loss rate. Eta Car is unsteadily returning to its pre-eruptive state, but the rapidity since 2000 has been astonishing. The recent secular changes are much stronger in the UV than at optical wavelengths, but no UV data have been obtained since 2010 and no far-UV observations since 2004. The extraordinary brightening and changes in the wind are fundamental and must indicate basic changes in the outer structure of this circa-130 Msun star. Therefore, this proposal focuses on the rapid secular changes rather than the expected 2014.6 periastron passage. This is primarily a UV problem, though longer wavelengths are also worthwhile. Fresh observations must be done early in Cycle 21 before the approaching periastron alters the system. Our highest priorities are the UV brightening and the long term changes in the wind. These observations are closely related to program 13377 in Cycle 21, which covered Eta Car's spectroscopic event in 2014. Each visit is one orbit. (1) A STIS/CCD visit 2-3 months after the peak of the event. Orbital phase close to STIS observations made in late 2003. (2) A STIS/CCD visit several months later. If convenient, prefer slit orientation at PA = -28D to match observations made in 1998-2004. However, this ORIENT is not absolutely essential. The ORIENT range can be widened if necessary. (3) A STIS/MAMA visit for UV close to the time of visit 2. This visit duplicates obs made in late 2013. - Depending on results in 2014 (this was written July 2014), we may need to revise some details -- especially the timing of each observation. - The total is 3 orbits (8 were used in 13377/Cy21). Integration times range from a few seconds in the red to several minutes in the UV. - HOT STARS Default false true false false false AVAILABLE STAR ETA CARINAE STAR J2000 J2000 F(2800) = 1.0E -11 +/- 0.4E-11, , F(2200) = 5E-12 +/- 3E-12 STIS/NUV-MAMA Spectroscopic No No E230M 1978 STIS/FUV-MAMA Spectroscopic No No E140M 1425 STIS/CCD Spectroscopic No No G230MB 2557 STIS/CCD Spectroscopic No No G230MB 2794 STIS/CCD Spectroscopic No No G430M 3680 STIS/CCD Spectroscopic No No G430M 3305 STIS/CCD Spectroscopic No No G430M 3936 STIS/CCD Spectroscopic No No G430M 4706 STIS/CCD Spectroscopic No No G230LB 2375 STIS/CCD Spectroscopic No No G230LB 2375 STIS/CCD Spectroscopic No No G430L 4300 The scheduling data was generated by CASM 22.2. CASM was run in Phase II mode. 1405548124882 Aftermath of 2014.6 spectroscopic event. For comparison with HST obs in late 2003. (Tic-Visit :proposal-id 13789 :visit-id "01" :proposal-version -1 :trans-version "20140605" :date "16-Jul-2014 17:02:03.0" :trans-errors '(:WARNINGS 0 :ERRORS 0 :HEALTH-AND-SAFETY 0 :FATAL-ERRORS 0 :CONTINUABLE-FATALS 0) :number-of-orbits 1 :saa-model "24" :si-bright-earth-limb-angle 20.0 :data-volume 153952 :tdrss-contact-duration 0 :coron NIL ) (Tic-Obset :proposal-id 13789 :visit-id "01" :obset-id "01" :pcs-mode "FGS" ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 13789 :visit-id "01" :orbit-number 1 :pcs-time 333 :si-vis-utilization 2723 :al-overhead-at-end 258 :internal-dur-at-end 320 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3470 :pcs-gap 0 ) false 1 0 Target Acquisition for STIS CCD longslit This wavelength interval 7795AA has no strong emision lines. Therefore peakup really leads to the star A and not to ejecta blobs like C and D. Ultra-short exposure to get extremely bright H-alpha emission line profile. WAVECAL=NO because we are explicitly managing the WCALs. Some H-alpha pixels will be saturated in this exposure; H-alpha is extremely bright. NOTE: In past several years Eta Car has been brightening 0.1--0.2 magn per year. In this program we include WAVECALS explicitly so we can omit some that are definitely not needed for the program goals, and partly to force some of them into occultation periods. Mainly for photometry around 330 nm, also good for blue photometry. Quick look at UV, for photometry and features 250-300 nm. Compare following long exposure. Long exposure for UV 170--250 nm. CR-SPLIT = 3 instead of 2, because this observation is critical and one c.r. hit could ruin an entire spectral line at low dispersion. Extremely important wavelength interval for HeII 4687 and other varying emission features. Important spectral region includes diverse emission features. Timing link suitability includes constraints ([Group (02 03) Within 15.0 days]) The scheduling data was generated by CASM 22.2. CASM was run in Phase II mode. 1405976298830 About 6 months after the 2014.6 spectroscopic event. ORIENT is not absolutely essential, but it duplicates many obs in 1998-2004, and samples Weigelt knot. (Tic-Visit :proposal-id 13789 :visit-id "02" :proposal-version -1 :trans-version "20140605" :date "21-Jul-2014 15:58:18.0" :trans-errors '(:WARNINGS 0 :ERRORS 0 :HEALTH-AND-SAFETY 0 :FATAL-ERRORS 0 :CONTINUABLE-FATALS 0) :number-of-orbits 1 :saa-model "24" :si-bright-earth-limb-angle 20.0 :data-volume 153952 :tdrss-contact-duration 0 :coron NIL ) (Tic-Obset :proposal-id 13789 :visit-id "02" :obset-id "02" :pcs-mode "FGS" ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 13789 :visit-id "02" :orbit-number 1 :pcs-time 333 :si-vis-utilization 2723 :al-overhead-at-end 258 :internal-dur-at-end 320 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3470 :pcs-gap 0 ) false 1 0 Target Acquisition for STIS CCD longslit This wavelength interval 7795AA has no strong emision lines. Therefore peakup really leads to the star A and not to ejecta blobs like C and D. Ultra-short exposure to get extremely bright H-alpha emission line profile. WAVECAL=NO because we are explicitly managing the WCALs. Some H-alpha pixels will be saturated in this exposure; H-alpha is extremely bright. NOTE: In past several years Eta Car has been brightening 0.1--0.2 magn per year. In this program we include WAVECALS explicitly so we can omit some that are definitely not needed for the program goals, and partly to force some of them into occultation periods. Photometry around 330 nm and also in blue. Photometry 250--300 nm, also good for spectral features in same range. Long exposure for features at short wavelengths 1650--2500 AA. Critical HeII 4687 and other emission features in this interval. Important spectral region includes diverse emission features. Timing link suitability includes constraints ([Group (02 03) Within 15.0 days]) The scheduling data was generated by CASM 22.2. CASM was run in Phase II mode. 1405548366201 UV spectra with E140M, E230M. Duplicates obs in October 2013. Grouped with CY22-CCD2. (Tic-Visit :proposal-id 13789 :visit-id "03" :proposal-version -1 :trans-version "20140605" :date "16-Jul-2014 17:06:06.0" :trans-errors '(:WARNINGS 0 :ERRORS 0 :HEALTH-AND-SAFETY 0 :FATAL-ERRORS 0 :CONTINUABLE-FATALS 0) :number-of-orbits 1 :saa-model "24" :si-bright-earth-limb-angle 20.0 :data-volume 174976 :tdrss-contact-duration 0 :coron NIL ) (Tic-Obset :proposal-id 13789 :visit-id "03" :obset-id "03" :pcs-mode "FGS" ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 13789 :visit-id "03" :orbit-number 1 :pcs-time 333 :si-vis-utilization 3110 :al-overhead-at-end 0 :internal-dur-at-end 394 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3470 :pcs-gap 0 ) false 1 0 The wavelength interval 7795AA has no strong emission lines. Therefore peakup leads to the star A and not to ejecta blobs like C and D. Preceding STIS/CCD visit will be used to assure that this exposure does not violate brightness limits for NUV-MAMA.