  eta Carinae is a stellar binary system with a period of 5.54 years. It
harbors one of the brightest and most massive stars in our galaxy. This paper
presents spectroscopic evidence for a fast (up to 2,000 km/s) X-ray outflow of
ionized gas launched from eta Carinae just before what is believed to be the
binary periastron (point of smallest binary separation). The appearance of this
high-velocity component, just as the irregular flares in the X-ray light curve,
can not be explained by the simple continuous binary wind interaction, adding
to the intrigue of the eta Carinae system.
