Overview
- Astronomers used the William Herschel Telescope’s WEAVE Large Integral Field Unit to obtain continuous, spatially resolved spectra across the entire nebula.
- The central feature shines in the [Fe V] 4227 Å line, stretches roughly 500 times Pluto’s orbital radius, and contains an iron mass comparable to Mars.
- Earlier observations, including with Hubble and JWST, missed the bar because they lacked the combined spectral coverage and dense spatial sampling provided by WEAVE.
- Its origin remains unknown, with leading ideas including asymmetric ejection from the dying star or plasma from a vaporized rocky planet, which researchers stress is unconfirmed.
- The team plans higher-resolution WEAVE observations to probe composition, velocities, temperature and density, while broader WEAVE surveys will search for similar iron-dominated structures.