An infrared imaging study of the bipolar proto-planetary nebula IRAS 16594-4656

Abstract

High-resolution mid-infrared images have been obtained in N and Q band for the proto-planetary nebula IRAS 16594-4656. A bright equatorial torus and a pair of bipolar lobes can clearly be seen in the infrared images. The torus appears thinner at the center than at the edges, suggesting that it is viewed nearly edge-on. The infrared lobes correspond to the brightest lobes of the reflection nebula seen in the Bubble Space Telescope (HST) optical image, but with no sign of the point-symmetric structure seen in the visible image. The lobe structure shows a close correspondence with a molecular hydrogen map obtained with HST, suggesting that the dust emission in the lobes traces the distribution of the shocked gas. The shape of the bipolar lobes shows clearly that the fast outflow is still confined by the remnant circumstellar envelope of the progenitor asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star. However, the nondetection of the dust outside of the lobes suggests that the temperature of the dust in the AGB envelope is too low for it to be detected at 20 μm. © 2006. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.