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Sculpting a Pre-Planetary Nebula with a Precessing Jet: IRAS 16342-3814We have imaged the bipolar pre-planetary nebula IRAS 16342-3814 with the Keck adaptive optics (AO) system in four near-infrared bands in the 1.6-4.7 (micro)m range. The lobes, which showed smoothly varying brightness distributions in previous optical images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, have a limb-brightened appearance in the AO images, with a remarkable corkscrew structure inscribed on the lobe walls. A well-collimated, precessing jet with a diameter less than or approximately equal to 100 AU and a precession period less than or approximately equal to 50 yr, interacting with ambient circumstellar material, is most likely responsible for the corkscrew structure and the lobes, as indicated by a detailed comparison of our observations with published numerical simulations. The very red colors of the lobes in the near-infrared, coupled with their visibility at optical wavelengths, require that at least half, but not all, of the light of the central star be trapped by a compact circumstellar dust cloud heated to approximately 600-700 K and reradiated in the infrared. The lobes are thus illuminated both by the infrared light from this dust cloud as well as by the optical light from the central star.
Document ID
20070024432
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Sahai, R.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Le Mignant, D.
(Keck Observatory Mauna Kea, HI, United States)
Sanchez Contreras, C.
(California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Campbell, R. D.
(Keck Observatory Mauna Kea, HI, United States)
Chaffee, F. H.
(Keck Observatory Mauna Kea, HI, United States)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 2005
Publication Information
Publication: The Astrophysical Journal
Publisher: Chicago Univ.
Volume: 622
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF 99-81546
PROJECT: RTOP 399-20-00-08
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
circumstellar matter
jets and outflows
planetary nebulae
mass loss
mass loss

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