Outflowing Gas in the Planetary Nebula K 3-54

As planetary nebulae evolve, they develop slow and strong dust-driven stellar winds, making the joint study of dust and gas essential for understanding their nature. As a pilot investigation, we selected planetary nebula (PN) K 3-54 as our target, the only known PN in the Milky Way to exhibit infrar...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xiuhui Chen, Dejian Liu, Ping Yan, Binggang Ju, Dengrong Lu, Yingjie Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:The Astronomical Journal
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/adbe36
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Summary:As planetary nebulae evolve, they develop slow and strong dust-driven stellar winds, making the joint study of dust and gas essential for understanding their nature. As a pilot investigation, we selected planetary nebula (PN) K 3-54 as our target, the only known PN in the Milky Way to exhibit infrared emission from both graphene (C _24 ) and fullerene (C _60 ). The gas is traced via molecular line emissions from ^12 CO, ^13 CO, and C ^18 O ( J  = 1 → 0), observed using the 13.7 m telescope of the Purple Mountain Observatory. We investigate the dynamics of this PN and identify a bipolar outflow. Preliminary results suggest that the large dynamical timescale of the outflow and the weak shock environment may account for the simultaneous survival of C _24 and C _60 within and around PN K 3-54.
ISSN:1538-3881