MWC 922: The Red Square Nebula
Credit & Copyright: Peter Tuthill (Sydney U.) & James Lloyd (Cornell)
Explanation:
What could cause a nebula to appear square? No one is quite sure. The
hot star system known as MWC 922, however, appears to be embedded in a
nebula with just such a shape. The above image combines infrared
exposures from the Hale Telescope on Mt. Palomar in California, and the
Keck-2 Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. A leading progenitor hypothesis
for the square nebula is that the central star or stars somehow
expelled cones of gas during a late developmental stage. For MWC 922,
these cones happen to incorporate nearly right angles and be visible
from the sides. Supporting evidence for the cone hypothesis includes
radial spokes in the image that might run along the cone walls.
Researchers speculate that the cones viewed from another angle would
appear similar to the gigantic rings of supernova 1987A, possibly
indicating that a star in MWC 922 might one day itself explode in a
similar supernova.
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