000006047 001__ 6047
000006047 005__ 20230112113609.0
000006047 0247_ $$2DOI$$a10.1038/s41550-022-01845-2
000006047 037__ $$aSCART-2023-0008
000006047 100__ $$aDe Marco, Orsola;
000006047 245__ $$aThe messy death of a multiple star system and the resulting planetary nebula as observed by JWST
000006047 260__ $$c2022
000006047 520__ $$aPlanetary nebulae—the ejected envelopes of red giant stars—provide us with a history of the last, mass-losing phases of 90% of stars initially more massive than the Sun. Here we analyse images of the planetary nebula NGC 3132 from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Early Release Observations. A structured, extended hydrogen halo surrounding an ionized central bubble is imprinted with spiral structures, probably shaped by a low-mass companion orbiting the central star at about 40-60 au. The images also reveal a mid-infrared excess at the central star, interpreted as a dusty disk, which is indicative of an interaction with another closer companion. Including the previously known A-type visual companion, the progenitor of the NGC 3132 planetary nebula must have been at least a stellar quartet. The JWST images allow us to generate a model of the illumination, ionization and hydrodynamics of the molecular halo, demonstrating the power of JWST to investigate complex stellar outflows. Furthermore, new measurements of the A-type visual companion allow us to derive the value for the mass of the progenitor of a central star with excellent precision: 2.86 ± 0.06 M<SUB>⊙</SUB>. These results serve as pathfinders for future JWST observations of planetary nebulae, providing unique insight into fundamental astrophysical processes including colliding winds and binary star interactions, with implications for supernovae and gravitational-wave systems.
000006047 594__ $$aNO
000006047 6531_ $$astellar death
000006047 6531_ $$aplanetary nebulae
000006047 6531_ $$aJWST
000006047 6531_ $$abinary star
000006047 700__ $$aAkashi, Muhammad; 
000006047 700__ $$aAkras, Stavros;
000006047 700__ $$aAlcolea, Javier;
000006047 700__ $$aAleman, Isabel; 
000006047 700__ $$aAmram, Philippe; 
000006047 700__ $$aBalick, Bruce; 
000006047 700__ $$aDe Beck, Elvire;
000006047 700__ $$aBlackman, Eric G.; 
000006047 700__ $$aBoffin, Henri M. J.; 
000006047 700__ $$aBoumis, Panos; 
000006047 700__ $$aBublitz, Jesse;
000006047 700__ $$aBucciarelli, Beatrice; 
000006047 700__ $$aBujarrabal, Valentin; 
000006047 700__ $$aCami, Jan; 
000006047 700__ $$aChornay, Nicholas;
000006047 700__ $$aChu, You-Hua; 
000006047 700__ $$aCorradi, Romano L. M.; 
000006047 700__ $$aFrank, Adam; 
000006047 700__ $$aGarcía-Hernández, D. A.; 
000006047 700__ $$aGarcía-Rojas, Jorge; 
000006047 700__ $$aGarcía-Segura, Guillermo; 
000006047 700__ $$aGómez-Llanos, Veronica; 
000006047 700__ $$aGonçalves, Denise R.; 
000006047 700__ $$aGuerrero, Martín A.; 
000006047 700__ $$aJones, David; 
000006047 700__ $$aKarakas, Amanda I.; 
000006047 700__ $$aKastner, Joel H.; 
000006047 700__ $$aKwok, Sun; 
000006047 700__ $$aLykou, Foteini;
000006047 700__ $$aManchado, Arturo; 
000006047 700__ $$aMatsuura, Mikako; 
000006047 700__ $$aMcDonald, Iain; 
000006047 700__ $$aMiszalski, Brent;
000006047 700__ $$aMohamed, Shazrene S.; 
000006047 700__ $$aMonreal-Ibero, Ana; 
000006047 700__ $$aMonteiro, Hektor; 
000006047 700__ $$aMontez, Rodolfo; 
000006047 700__ $$aBaez, Paula Moraga; 
000006047 700__ $$aMorisset, Christophe; 
000006047 700__ $$aNordhaus, Jason;
000006047 700__ $$aMendes de Oliveira, Claudia; 
000006047 700__ $$aOsborn, Zara; 
000006047 700__ $$aOtsuka, Masaaki; 
000006047 700__ $$aParker, Quentin;
000006047 700__ $$aPeeters, Els; 
000006047 700__ $$aQuint, Bruno C.; 
000006047 700__ $$aQuintana-Lacaci, Guillermo;
000006047 700__ $$aRedman, Matt; 
000006047 700__ $$aRuiter, Ashley J.; 
000006047 700__ $$aSabin, Laurence; 
000006047 700__ $$aSahai, Raghvendra;
000006047 700__ $$aContreras, Carmen Sánchez; 
000006047 700__ $$aSantander-García, Miguel; 
000006047 700__ $$aSeitenzahl, Ivo;
000006047 700__ $$aSoker, Noam; 
000006047 700__ $$aSpeck, Angela K.; 
000006047 700__ $$aStanghellini, Letizia; 
000006047 700__ $$aSteffen, Wolfgang;
000006047 700__ $$aToalá, Jesús A.; 
000006047 700__ $$aUeta, Toshiya; 
000006047 700__ $$aVan de Steene, Griet;
000006047 700__ $$aVan Winckel, Hans;
000006047 700__ $$aVentura, Paolo; 
000006047 700__ $$aVillaver, Eva; 
000006047 700__ $$aVlemmings, Wouter; 
000006047 700__ $$aWalsh, Jeremy R.;
000006047 700__ $$aWesson, Roger; 
000006047 700__ $$aZijlstra, Albert A.
000006047 773__ $$c1423-1432$$ndec$$pNature Astronomy$$v6$$y2022
000006047 8560_ $$fgriet.vandesteene@observatoire.be
000006047 85642 $$ahttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-022-01845-2
000006047 905__ $$apublished in
000006047 980__ $$aREFERD