Paper detail

The morphology and kinematics of the Fine Ring Nebula, planetary nebula Sp 1, and the shaping influence of its binary central star

We present the first detailed spatio-kinematical analysis and modelling of the planetary nebula Shapley 1 (Sp 1), which is known to contain a close-binary central star system. Close-binary central stars have been identified as a likely source of shaping in planetary nebulae, but with little observational support to date. Deep narrowband imaging in the light of [O III] λ5007A suggests the presence of a large bow-shock to the west of the nebula, indicating that it is undergoing the first stages of an interaction with the interstellar medium. Further narrowband imaging in the light of Hα+[NII] λ6584A combined with longslit observations of the Hα emission have been used to develop a spatio-kinematical model of Sp 1. The model clearly reveals Sp 1 to be a bipolar, axisymmetric structure viewed almost pole-on. The symmetry axis of the model nebula is within a few degrees of perpendicular to the orbital plane of the central binary system - strong evidence that the central close-binary system has played an important role in shaping the nebula. Sp 1 is one of very few nebulae to have this link, between nebular symmetry axis and binary plane, shown observationally.