2004AJ....127.2362C -
Astron. J., 127, 2362-2377 (2004/April-0)
Hubble space telescope imaging of HD 44179, the red rectangle.
COHEN M., VAN WINCKEL H., BOND H.E. and GULL T.R.
Abstract (from CDS):
We present Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 and deep ground-based images of the Red Rectangle (RR), a bipolar proto-planetary nebula associated with the post-AGB binary system HD 44179. The high-resolution HST images reveal complex new structures, many of them unique to this object. The RR nebula is dominated by a discontinuous ``bicone'', whose bright, sharp linear edges give the nebula an overall X-shaped appearance. The edges of the bicone are connected by a remarkable series of linear features elongated perpendicular to the radius vector, giving the object a ladder-like structure. The ``rungs'' of the ladder structure show a quasi-periodic spacing, suggesting that they have arisen from discrete episodes of mass loss from the central star, separated by a few hundred years. The total timescale over which mass has been shed into the visible nebula is of order 14,000 yr. Outside the X-shaped bicone, parabolas curl inward, resembling wineglasses, which terminate on the bicone edges in large, limb-brightened vortices. The central object is bisected by a dark band, indicating that the star is not seen directly but is instead obscured by a surrounding opaque dust disk.
Abstract Copyright:
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Journal keyword(s):
Stars: Binaries: Spectroscopic - Stars: Circumstellar Matter - ISM: Lines and Bands - Stars: Individual: Henry Draper Number: HD 44179 - Stars: Mass Loss
Simbad objects:
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