The Halos of Planetary Nebulae in the Mid-Infrared: Evidence for Interaction with the Interstellar Medium

TL;DR

This study uses mid-infrared imaging from the Spitzer Space Telescope to observe planetary nebulae halos, providing evidence of their interaction with the interstellar medium through features like halos, ram-pressure stripping, and Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities.

Contribution

First mid-infrared observations of planetary nebulae halos revealing detailed interactions with the interstellar medium, including evidence of ram-pressure stripping and RT instabilities.

Findings

NGC 2440 and NGC 6629 show interacting halos with stripped material.

NGC 3242 and NGC 6772 exhibit fragmented halos due to RT instabilities.

NGC 3242 likely moving towards the NE, supported by tail and emission features.

Abstract

The motion of planetary nebulae (PNe) through the interstellar medium (ISM) is thought to lead to a variety of observational consequences, including the formation of bright rims; deformation and fragmentation of the shells; and a shift of the central stars away from the geometric centres of the envelopes. These and other characteristics have been noted through imaging in the visual wavelength regime. We report further observations of such shells taken in the mid-infrared (MIR), acquired through programs of IRAC imaging undertaken using the Spitzer Space Telescope (SST). NGC 2440 and NGC 6629 are shown to possess likely interacting halos, together with ram-pressure stripped material to one side of their shells. Similarly, the outer halos of NGC 3242 and NGC 6772 appear to have been fragmented through Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instabilities, leading to a possible flow of ISM material towards the inner portions of their envelopes. If this interpretation is correct, then it would suggest that NGC 3242 is moving towards the NE; a suggestion which is also supported through the presence of a 60 microns tail extending in the opposite direction, and curved bands of H-alpha emission in the direction of motion - components which may arise through RT instabilities in the magnetized ISM.