Hubble's Variable Nebula I: Ripples on a Big Screen
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866912360186249216 |
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| author | Lightfoot, John Scholz, Aleks |
| author_facet | Lightfoot, John Scholz, Aleks |
| contents | NGC2261 is a reflection nebula illuminated by the young star R Monocerotis. Objects moving near the star occasionally cast shadows on the nebula, giving rise to its alternative name: Hubble's Variable Nebula. For 7 years since Spring 2017 robotic telescopes have been used to compile a roughly twice-weekly record of changes in the object. The results, over 1000 images at separate epochs, have been compiled into a movie. This shows that, as well as the large scale but infrequent variability for which it is famous, the nebula is continually traversed by low level `ripples' of light and dark. These record changes in the light output from R Mon and analysis of their progress indicates that the reflecting material takes the form of a thin (<3x10^16cm) screen whose shape resembles a half paraboloid, rooted at the star and bowed towards us. The brightness of the screen in Herschel far-IR maps indicates a density n_H> 1.7x10^5cm^-3 and CO observations show the material is moving towards us at a few km/s relative to the rest cloud, consistent it with being a dense shell of material displaced by R~Mon's outflow. The results demonstrate the value of studying such objects in the time domain, and are a glimpse of what will be achieved by instruments like the Zwicky Transient Facility and Vera Rubin Observatory. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_01760 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Hubble's Variable Nebula I: Ripples on a Big Screen Lightfoot, John Scholz, Aleks Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Astrophysics of Galaxies NGC2261 is a reflection nebula illuminated by the young star R Monocerotis. Objects moving near the star occasionally cast shadows on the nebula, giving rise to its alternative name: Hubble's Variable Nebula. For 7 years since Spring 2017 robotic telescopes have been used to compile a roughly twice-weekly record of changes in the object. The results, over 1000 images at separate epochs, have been compiled into a movie. This shows that, as well as the large scale but infrequent variability for which it is famous, the nebula is continually traversed by low level `ripples' of light and dark. These record changes in the light output from R Mon and analysis of their progress indicates that the reflecting material takes the form of a thin (<3x10^16cm) screen whose shape resembles a half paraboloid, rooted at the star and bowed towards us. The brightness of the screen in Herschel far-IR maps indicates a density n_H> 1.7x10^5cm^-3 and CO observations show the material is moving towards us at a few km/s relative to the rest cloud, consistent it with being a dense shell of material displaced by R~Mon's outflow. The results demonstrate the value of studying such objects in the time domain, and are a glimpse of what will be achieved by instruments like the Zwicky Transient Facility and Vera Rubin Observatory. |
| title | Hubble's Variable Nebula I: Ripples on a Big Screen |
| topic | Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Astrophysics of Galaxies |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.01760 |