During the Great Eruption of η Car, the apparent visual magnitude reached a characteristic value of mV∼0. Assume that the interstellar extinction to η Car is 1.7 magnitudes and that the bolometric correction is essentially zero.
(a) Estimate the luminosity of η Car during the Great Eruption.
(b) Determine the total amount of photon energy liberated during the twenty years of the Great Eruption.
(c) If 3M⊙ of material was ejected at a speed of 650 km s−1, how much energy went into the kinetic energy of the ejecta?