Context : The mass loss from massive stars is not understood well . $ η $ ~Carinae is a unique object for studying the massive stellar wind during the Luminous Blue Variable phase .
It is also an eccentric binary with a period of 5.54 yr .
The nature of both stars is uncertain , although we know from X-ray studies that there is a wind-wind collision whose properties change with orbital phase .

Aims : We want to investigate the structure and kinematics of \eta Car ’ s primary star wind and wind-wind collision zone with a high spatial resolution of \sim 6 mas ( \sim 14 au ) and high spectral resolution of R = 12 000 .

Methods : Observations of $ η $ ~Car were carried out with the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer ( VLTI ) and the AMBER instrument between approximately five and seven months before the August 2014 periastron passage .
Velocity-resolved aperture-synthesis images were reconstructed from the spectrally dispersed interferograms .
Interferometric studies can provide information on the binary orbit , the primary wind , and the wind collision .

Results : We present velocity-resolved aperture-synthesis images reconstructed in more than 100 different spectral channels distributed across the Br \gamma 2.166 \mu m emission line .
The intensity distribution of the images strongly depends on wavelength .
At wavelengths corresponding to radial velocities of approximately - 140 to -376 ~ { } { km s ^ { -1 } } measured relative to line center , the intensity distribution has a fan-shaped structure .
At the velocity of -277 ~ { } { km s ^ { -1 } } , the position angle of the symmetry axis of the fan is \sim 126 \degr .
The fan-shaped structure extends approximately 8.0 mas ( \sim 18.8 au ) to the southeast and 5.8 mas ( \sim 13.6 au ) to the northwest , measured along the symmetry axis at the 16 % intensity contour .
The shape of the intensity distributions suggests that the obtained images are the first direct images of the innermost wind-wind collision zone .
Therefore , the observations provide velocity-dependent image structures that can be used to test three-dimensional hydrodynamical , radiative transfer models of the massive interacting winds of \eta Car .

Conclusions :