A detailed study of the structure of the nested planetary nebula, Hb 12, the Matryoshka nebula
- Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Ensenada, Ensenada, Baja California, 22860 (Mexico)
- LBT Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)
We present near-IR, integral field spectroscopic observations of the planetary nebula (PN) Hb 12 using Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) on Gemini-North. Combining NIFS with the adaptive optics system Altair, we provide a detailed study of the core and inner structure of this PN. We focus the analysis in the prominent emission lines [Fe II] (1.6436 μm), He I (2.0585 μm), H{sub 2} (2.1214 μm), and Br{sub γ} (2.16553 μm). We find that the [Fe II] emission traces a tilted system of bipolar lobes, with the northern lobe being redshifted and the southern lobe blueshifted. The [Fe II] emission is very faint at the core and only present close to the systemic velocity. There is no H{sub 2} emission in the core, whereas the core is prominent in the He I and Br{sub γ} recombination lines. The H{sub 2} emission is concentrated in equatorial arcs of emission surrounding the core and expanding at ∼30 km s{sup –1}. These arcs are compared with Hubble Space Telescope images and shown to represent nested loops belonging to the inner sections of a much larger bipolar structure that replicates the inner one. The He I and Br{sub γ} emission from the core clearly show a cylindrical central cavity that seems to represent the inner walls of an equatorial density enhancement or torus. The torus is 0.''2 wide (≡200 AU radius at a distance of 2000 pc) and expanding at ≤30 km s{sup –1}. The eastern wall of the inner torus is consistently more intense than the western wall, which could indicate the presence of an off-center star, such as is observed in the similar hourglass PN, MyCn 18. A bipolar outflow is also detected in Br{sub γ} emerging within 0.''1 from the core at ∼ ± 40 km s{sup –1}.
- OSTI ID:
- 22342217
- Journal Information:
- Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Vol. 148, Issue 5; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1538-3881
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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