Hubble Space Telescope Imaging of IRAS 17441-2411: A Case Study of a Bipolar Nebula with a Circumstellar Disk

Abstract

The bipolar proto-planetary nebula IRAS 17441-2411 (the ``Silkworm Nebula'') was observed with the Hubble Space Telescope. By fitting the observed spectral energy distribution and the V-band image by a two-dimensional radiation transfer model, we derive the properties of the circumstellar wind and a proposed circumstellar ``disk.'' We suggest that bipolar structures are probably more common than actually observed, because objects with similar intrinsic structures may simply appear stellar because of their orientation in the sky.

This work was based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.