The equatorial disk at the center of the PN CPD-568032

O. Chesneau, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur
A. Collioud, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur
O. De Marco, American Museum of Natural History
E. Lagadec, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur
A. A. Zijlstra, The University of Manchester
S. Wolf, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
A. Acker, Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg
G. C. Clayton, Louisiana State University

Abstract

We present N band observations of the planetary nebula CPD-568032 by VLTI/MIDI. The dusty environment of CPD-568032 exhibits a bright unresolved core and a diffuse environment evidenced by HST imaging. From MIDI 8.7μm acquisition images (dominated by PAHs emission), the extension and geometry of the core have been estimated and compared to the STIS/HST observations (De Marco et al., 1997 and 2002). The UT2 and UT3 telescopes were used providing projected baselines between 40 and 45 meters. The bright infrared core is almost fully resolved with these baselines although high SNR fringes at low level have been detected. This clear signal reveals a ring-like structure interpreted as the bright inner rim of the equatorial disk exposed to the flux from the Wolf-Rayet star at the center of the system. The geometrical parameters are well constrained by means of simple geometrical models and a radiative transfer model is under development to extract the physical parameters of the disk. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.