Near-IR bispectrum speckle interferometry, AO imaging polarimetry, and radiative transfer modeling of the proto-planetary nebula Frosty Leonis

Abstract

Aims. We combined bispectrum speckle interferometry, adaptive optics (AO) imaging polarimetry, and radiative transfer modeling of polarized light to derive various physical properties of the proto-planetary nebula Frosty Leo. Methods. We performed bispectrum K � -band speckle interferometry and H -a ndK-band imaging polarimetry of Frosty Leo using the ESO 3.6 m telescope and the AO-equipped CIAO instrument of the 8 m Subaru telescope, respectively. Two-dimensional radiative transfer modeling was carried out in order to obtain a quantitative interpretation of our observations. Results. Our diffraction-limited speckle image shows distinct hourglass-shaped, point-symmetric bipolar lobes, an equatorial dust lane, and complex clumpy structures in the lobes. Our polarimetric data display a centro-symmetric polarization vector pattern with P ∼ 30–50% in the bipolar lobes and a polarization disk between them. The polarization images also reveal an elongated region with low polarization along a position angle of −45 ◦ . The observations suggest that this region has a low dust density and was carved out by a jet-like outflow. Our radiative transfer modeling can simultaneously explain the observed spectral energy distribution, the intensity distribution of the hourglass-shaped lobes, and our polarization images if we use two grain species with sizes of 0.005 ≤ a ≤ 2.0 μm at latitudes between −2 ◦ and +2 ◦ ,a nd 0.005 ≤ a ≤ 0.7 μm in the bipolar lobes. Assuming a distance of 3 kpc, an expansion velocity of 25 km s −1 , and a gas-to-dust mass ratio of 160, we derive a dust mass of the disk of 2.85 × 10 −3 M� , a gas mass-loss rate of ) ( ) ( *