Accretion simulations of η Carinae and implications for the evolution of massive binaries

This contribution presented high-resolution numerical simulations of the colliding wind system η Carinae, showing accretion of the primary wind onto the secondary star close to periastron passage. We found that the stellar winds collide and develop instabilities, mainly the non-linear thin shell instability, and form filaments and clumps. We also found that a few days before periastron passage the dense filaments and clumps flow towards the secondary as a result of its gravitational attraction, and are then accreted onto the secondary. We ran …