Optical Emission Band Morphologies of the Red Rectangle

We present narrowband images of the Red Rectangle (RR) Nebula that reveal the distinct morphologies of this intriguing nebula in different optical emission bands. The morphology of the RR nebula in blue luminescence (BL) and extended red emission (ERE) are almost mutually exclusive. We also present...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2006-12, Vol.653 (2), p.1336-1341
Main Authors: Vijh, Uma P, Witt, Adolf N, York, Donald G, Dwarkadas, Vikram V, Woodgate, Bruce E, Palunas, Povilas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astronomy
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
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Summary:We present narrowband images of the Red Rectangle (RR) Nebula that reveal the distinct morphologies of this intriguing nebula in different optical emission bands. The morphology of the RR nebula in blue luminescence (BL) and extended red emission (ERE) are almost mutually exclusive. We also present the optical detection of the circumbinary disk of the RR in the light of the BL. The total intensities from the two optical band emissions (BL and ERE) when summed over the nebula are of comparable magnitude. Their spatial distributions with respect to the embedded illumination sources lead us to suggest that they may be attributed to different ionization stages of the same family of carriers.
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.1086/509061