Sub-arcsecond dusty environment of Eta Carinae

The core of the nebula surrounding Eta Carinae has been observed with the VLT Adaptive Optics system NACO and with the interferometer VLTI/MIDI. Narrow-band images at 3.74 and 4.05 micron reveal the butterfly shaped dusty environment with an unprecedented spatial resolution. A void region around the central source was discovered, whose radius corresponds to the expected dust sublimation radius. Fringes have been obtained in the Mid-IR which reveal a correlated flux of about 100 Jy situated 0.3" south-east from the photocenter of the nebula at 8.7 which corresponds with the location of the star as seen in other wavelengths. This correlated flux is partly attributed to the central object and these observations provide an upper limit for the SED of the central source from 2.2 micron to 13.5 micron. Moreover, we have been able to spectrally disperse the signal from the nebula itself at PA=318 degree, i.e. in the direction of the bipolar nebula (310°) within the MIDI field of view of 3". A large amount of corundum (Al2O3) is discovered, peaking to the south-east from the star, whereas the dust content of the Weigelt blobs is more dominated by silicates.