Red Square

Have a look at this lovely image of the Red Square nebula:

It’s been making the news recently because (in addition to being a rather strikingly beautiful image – the colours should not be taken too seriously, as it is actually an infrared image) it is an extremely symmetrical object. Surprisingly and unprecedentedly so, apparently. A nebula of this sort (with a dying star, MWC 922 here, ejecting material out to its surroundings) is a very complicated object, so such a symmetrical structure suggests some truly remarkable conditions.

There’s a space.com article by Ker Than about it here, from which I extract this quote:

What is particularly astonishing about the Red Square, the researchers say, is the degree of symmetry seen in lines, or “rungs,” that bisect its surface. The rungs appear as shadows, and their makeup is uncertain.

“The high degree of regularity in this case may point to the intriguing possibility that these bands are shadows cast by periodic ripples or waves on the surface of an inner disk close to the star at the heart of the system,” Lloyd said.

The Red Square ranks among the most symmetrical objects ever observed by scientists. “If you fold things across the principle diagonal axis, you get an almost perfect reflection symmetry,” said study leader Peter Tuthill from the University of Sydney in Australia. “This makes the Red Square nebula the most symmetrical object of comparable complexity ever imaged.”

The Red Square’s extreme symmetry suggests the star’s surroundings are extremely still and not buffeted by external stellar winds or other turbulence.

I should mention that these sorts of structures (not so symmetric) have been observed before. Check out the “Red Rectangle”, discovered a while back. (Click on the image to the right for larger view.) You can read a bit about it and more of the “ladder-like structures” at this article by Robert Roy Britt (and follow the links).

-cvj