When Nature Tries to Trick Us

TL;DR

This paper investigates the central region of planetary nebula M3-2, revealing that the observed eclipsing binary is a chance alignment and not the nebula's ionising source, highlighting the importance of careful source identification.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the bright eclipsing binary near M3-2 is unrelated to the nebula, emphasizing the need for precise localization of central stars in planetary nebulae.

Findings

The eclipsing binary is a chance alignment, not the nebula's central star.

The true central star is a fainter star 2 arcseconds away.

The nebula is confirmed to be a Type I planetary nebula.

Abstract

Bipolar planetary nebulae (PNe) are thought to result from binary star interactions and, indeed, tens of binary central stars of PNe have been found, in particular using photometric time-series that allow detecting post-common envelope systems. Using photometry at the NTT in La Silla we have studied the bright object close to the centre of PN M3-2 and found it to be an eclipsing binary with an orbital period of 1.88 days. However, the components of the binary appear to be two A or F stars, of almost equal masses, and are thus too cold to be the source of ionisation of the nebula. Using deep images of the central star obtained in good seeing, we confirm a previous result that the central star is more likely a much fainter star, located 2 arcseconds away from the bright star. The eclipsing binary is thus a chance alignment on top of the planetary nebula. We also studied the nebular abundance and confirm it to be a Type I PN.