JWST/MIRI Study of the Enigmatic Mid-Infrared Rings in the Planetary Nebula NGC 1514

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Ressler, Michael E., Aller, Alba, Jones, David, Lau, Ryan M., Miranda, Luis F., Willacy, Karen
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866917964864815104
author Ressler, Michael E.
Aller, Alba
Jones, David
Lau, Ryan M.
Miranda, Luis F.
Willacy, Karen
author_facet Ressler, Michael E.
Aller, Alba
Jones, David
Lau, Ryan M.
Miranda, Luis F.
Willacy, Karen
contents While NGC 1514 is an elliptical, but complex, planetary nebula at optical wavelengths, it was discovered to have a pair of infrared-bright, axisymmetric rings contained within its faint outer shell during the course of the WISE all-sky survey. We have obtained JWST mid-infrared imaging and spectroscopy of the nebula through the use of simultaneous observations with the MIRI Imager and Medium Resolution Spectrometer, selecting the F770W, F1280W, and F2550W filters to match each of the MRS's three grating positions. These observations show that the rings are clearly resolved and relatively distinct structures, with both filamentary and clumpy detail throughout. There is also cloud-like material that has a turbulent appearance in the interior of the rings, particularly at the longest wavelengths, and faint ejecta-like structures just outside the ring boundaries. Despite their brightness, the emission from the rings within the three imager passbands is shown to be dominated by thermal emission from very small grains, not line emission from atomic hydrogen or forbidden atomic lines, shocked molecular hydrogen, or PAHs. The doppler velocities derived from the two brightest emission lines in the rings, however, suggest that the material from which the rings were formed was ejected during an early period of very heavy mass loss from the PN progenitor, then shaped by asymmetrical fast winds from the central binary pair.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_21281
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle JWST/MIRI Study of the Enigmatic Mid-Infrared Rings in the Planetary Nebula NGC 1514
Ressler, Michael E.
Aller, Alba
Jones, David
Lau, Ryan M.
Miranda, Luis F.
Willacy, Karen
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
While NGC 1514 is an elliptical, but complex, planetary nebula at optical wavelengths, it was discovered to have a pair of infrared-bright, axisymmetric rings contained within its faint outer shell during the course of the WISE all-sky survey. We have obtained JWST mid-infrared imaging and spectroscopy of the nebula through the use of simultaneous observations with the MIRI Imager and Medium Resolution Spectrometer, selecting the F770W, F1280W, and F2550W filters to match each of the MRS's three grating positions. These observations show that the rings are clearly resolved and relatively distinct structures, with both filamentary and clumpy detail throughout. There is also cloud-like material that has a turbulent appearance in the interior of the rings, particularly at the longest wavelengths, and faint ejecta-like structures just outside the ring boundaries. Despite their brightness, the emission from the rings within the three imager passbands is shown to be dominated by thermal emission from very small grains, not line emission from atomic hydrogen or forbidden atomic lines, shocked molecular hydrogen, or PAHs. The doppler velocities derived from the two brightest emission lines in the rings, however, suggest that the material from which the rings were formed was ejected during an early period of very heavy mass loss from the PN progenitor, then shaped by asymmetrical fast winds from the central binary pair.
title JWST/MIRI Study of the Enigmatic Mid-Infrared Rings in the Planetary Nebula NGC 1514
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.21281