HONG KONG: Scientists have captured images of a bipolar ‘planetary nebula’ surrounding the famous star L2 Puppis, which is at a distance of 210 light-years. Pierre Kervella (Unidad Mixta Internacional Franco-Chilena de Astronomia) and colleagues confirmed the 3D structure of the tiny nebula by using ESO’s Very Large Telescope or (VLT).
The astronomers compared the bipolar or twin lobed planetary nebula to a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.
The scientists also confirmed the presence of dimmer companion star whose stellar wind apparently interacts with that of L2 Puppis. It’s believed that this companion star, located about 300 million kilometers from L2 Puppis, is also a red giant, but is much smaller and younger.
In order to study faint objects very close to bright stars, the research team used the VLT’s new SPHERE/ZIMPOL instrument, an extreme adaptive optics and polarimetry system. The new observations with SPHERE-ZIMPOL showed the dust that surrounds L2 Puppis in exquisite detail.
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