Strange velocities in the equatorial ejecta of eta Carinae

We report HST/HRS observations of gas that appears to have been ejected in the equatorial zone of eta Carinae. Some of the observed emission lines are produced by Fe II fluorescence processes, which, for unknown reasons, are uniquely intense near eta Carinae. Surprisingly low velocities are found, m ost likely representing ejection events hundreds of years before the well-k nown Great Eruption of the 1840's. Alternative interpretations are possible with different geometrical assumptions, but they seem less straightforward and imply a different set of novel problems. The observed velocities less than 100 km s(-1) must be hints concerning the physical nature of eta Carin ae; we propose one speculative scenario, combining the effects of rotation and a modified Eddington limit. The strong fluorescent emission lines occur only in the slowest gas, a result that we cannot yet explain. Altogether, these data pose a number of serious theoretical questions and clues, involv ing remarkably slow ejection speeds, formation of distinct dense condensati ons in the ejecta, and peculiarly intense radiative excitation of certain e mission lines.