Quote:
Originally Posted by Shiraz
been looking at this a bit more. It looks to me like there is a classic dual lobe PN buried in there - what do you think?. That possibility is raised in http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1973A%26A....23..241D. but your image is the best available at showing the outer lobes - in fact most analyses (and images) ignore the outer region entirely.
Not sure what the colour means - have you seen any other PNs with a gold colouring? The literature identifies this as a reflection nebula, so I guess there is a lot of dust around and that could modify the light that gets out from any PN structure. In any event, I think that your image shows a lobe structure of some sort, that is not so clear in other images. |
Hi Ray
I think this is a special type of planetary nebula and perhaps not a typical one? Most sources refer to the "dust" around the star having been ejected from the star itself and the stars yellow-red light then "reflects" off this rather than the more typical blue nebula caused by Rayleigh "scattering" of blue light.
From ESO:
"The nebula was created by the star, which is losing part of its mass out into the surrounding space, forming a cloud of gas and dust as the material cools. The dust consists of elements such as carbon and simple, heat-resistant compounds such as titanium dioxide and calcium oxide (lime). In this case, detailed studies of the object in infrared light point to silicon dioxide (silica) being the most likely compound reflecting the star’s light.
IC 2220 is visible as the star’s light is reflected off the grains of dust"
Mike