X-ray monitoring of η carinae:: Variations on a theme

We present monitoring observations by the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer of the 2 - 10 keV X-ray emission from the supermassive star eta Carinae from 1996 through late 2003. These data cover more than one of the stellar variability cycles in temporal detail and include especially detailed monitoring through two X-ray minima. We compare the current X-ray minimum, which began on 2003 June 29, with the previous X-ray minimum, which began on 1997 December 15, and refine the X-ray period to 2024 days. We examine the variations in the X-ray spectrum with phase and with time, and also refine our understanding of the X-ray peaks, which have a quasi period of 84 days, with significant variation. Cycle-to-cycle differences are seen in the level of X-ray intensity and in the detailed variations of the X-ray flux on the rise to maximum just prior to the X-ray minimum. Despite these differences, the similarities between the decline to minimum, the duration of the minimum, and correlated variations of the X-ray flux and other measures throughout the electromagnetic spectrum leave little doubt that the X-ray variation is strictly periodic and produced by orbital motion as the wind from eta Carinae collides with the wind of an otherwise unseen companion.