This new image from the Gemini South telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, shows the nearly symmetrical double-looped structure and glowing stellar heart of the reflection nebula IC 2220.
IC 2220 is located approximately 1,200 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Carina.
Also known as Toby Jug Nebula, it is a bipolar cloud of gas and dust created and illuminated by the red giant star HD 65750 at its center.
“Red giants form when a star burns through its supply of hydrogen in its core,” Gemini Observatory astronomers said.
“Without the outward force of fusion, the star begins to contract.”
“This raises the core temperature and causes the star to then swell up to 400 times its original size.”
HD 65750 has five times the mass of our Sun but it is in a much more advanced stage of its life, despite its comparatively young age of around 50 million years.
“This allowed the star to burn through its hydrogen supply and become a red giant much faster than the Sun,” the researchers said.
“As HD 65750 swelled, its atmosphere expanded and it began to shed its outer layers.”
“The expelled stellar material flowed out into the surrounding area, forming a magnificent structure of gas and dust that reflects the light from the central star.”
Detailed studies of IC 2220 in infrared light have revealed that silicon dioxide (silica) is the most likely compound reflecting HD 65750’s light.
Astronomers theorize that bipolar structures similar to those seen in the nebula are the result of interactions between the central red giant and a binary companion star.
Previous observations, however, found no such companion to HD 65750. Instead, astronomers observed an extremely compact disk of material around the central star.
This finding suggests that a former binary companion was possibly shredded into the disk, which may have triggered the formation of the surrounding nebula.
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