Planetary nebulae with UVIT II. Revelations from far-UV vision of Butterfly nebula NGC 6302

Abstract

The high excitation planetary nebula, NGC 6302, has been imaged in two far-ultraviolet (FUV) filters, F169M (Sapphire; λeff: 1608 Å)and F172M (Silica; λeff: 1717 Å) and two near-UV (NUV) filters, N219M (B15; λeff: 2196 Å) and N279N (N2; λeff: 2792 Å) with the Ultra Violet Imaging Telescope (UVIT). The FUV F169M image shows faint emission lobes that extend to about 5 arcmin on either side of the central source. Faint orthogonal collimated jet-like structures are present on either side of the FUV lobes through the central source. These structures are not present in the two NUV filters or in the FUV F172M filter. Optical and infrared (IR) images of NGC 6302 show bright emission bipolar lobes in the east-west direction with a massive torus of molecular gas and dust seen as a dark lane in the north-south direction. The FUV lobes are much more extended and oriented at a position angle of 113◦. They and the jet-like structures might be remnants of an earlier evolutionary phase, prior to the dramatic explosive event that triggered the Hubble type bipolar flows approximately 2200 years ago. The source of the FUV lobe and jet emission is not known, but is likely due to fluorescent emission from H2 molecules. The cause of the difference in orientation of optical and FUV lobes is not clear and, we speculate, could be related to two binary interactions.