The Uncloaking of Eta Carinae

Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph spectroscopy has revealed much new detail of the ejecta thrown out of Eta Carinae. We have now accomplished eight visits of the star and the Homunculus using the STIS with a 52" x 0.1" aperture and with spectral coverage from 1640A to 10400A. Moreover we now have FUV observations with the STIS and with FUSE. From the FUSE and FUV observations, we see strong evidence for a hot companion star, likely in agreement with the binaricity of the spectrum in the near red. From the STIS observations, we see evidence of much substructure of the ejecta, ranging from the fast moving strings noted by Kirstin Weis, the outer emission nebula, to the Homunculus lobes and a disk. Deep within, we find a bipolar structure, the Integral Nebula and finally close to the star, a small ionized gas region that shows evidence of the stellar wind being resolved from the central source(s).