A disc inside the bipolar planetary nebula M2-9
- Author(s)
- F. Lykou, O. Chesneau, A. A. Zijlstra, A. Castro-Carrizo, E. Lagadec, B. Balick, N. Smith
- Abstract
Aims: Bipolarity in proto-planetary and planetary nebulae is associated with events occurring in or around their cores. Past infrared observations have revealed the presence of dusty structures around the cores, many in the form of discs. Characterising those dusty disc sprovides invaluable constraints on the physical processes that govern the final mass expulsion of intermediate mass stars. We focus this studyon the famous M2-9 bipolar nebula, where the moving lighthouse beam pattern indicates the presence of a wide binary. The compact and dense dusty core in the centre of the nebula can be studied by means ofoptical interferometry. Methods: M2-9 was observed with VLTI/MIDIat 39-47 m base lines with the UT2-UT3 and UT3-UT4 base line configurations. These observations are interpreted using a dust radiative transfer Monte Carlo code. Results: A disc-like structure is detected perpendicular to the lobes, and a good fit is found with a stratified disc model composed of amorphous silicates. The disc is compact, 25 × 35 mas at 8 μm and 37 × 46 mas at13 μm. For the adopted distance of 1.2 kpc, the inner rim of the discis ~15 AU. The mass represents a few percent of the mass found in the lobes. The compactness of the disc puts strong constraints on the binary content of the system, given an estimated orbital period 90-120 yr. We derive masses of the binary components between 0.6-1.0 M⊙for a white dwarf and 0.6-1.4 M⊙ for an evolved star. Wepresent different scenarios on the geometric structure of the disc accounting for the interactions of the binary system, which includes anaccretion disc as well.Based on observations collected at the European Organisation forAstronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, Chile, ESO N:079.D-146.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Astrophysics
- External organisation(s)
- University of Manchester, Institut de RadioAstronomie Millimétrique (IRAM), European Southern Observatory (Germany), University of Washington, University of Arizona
- Journal
- Astronomy & Astrophysics
- Volume
- 527
- Pages
- 105-115
- No. of pages
- 11
- ISSN
- 0004-6361
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/200913845
- Publication date
- 03-2011
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 103004 Astrophysics
- Keywords
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/af1c296a-3d70-4f0e-9973-dbb5b30d689a