The Equatorial Disk at the Center of the Planetary Nebula CPD-568032

Abstract

We present observations of the dusty emission from the planetary nebulae CPD-568032 by VLTI/MIDI. The dusty environment of CPD-568032 exhibits a bright unresolved core and a more diffuse environment. From MIDI acquisition images at 8.7 micron (dominated by PAHs emission), the extension and geometry of the core have been estimated and compared to the geometry of the nebula and the equatorial disk observed by the HST (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 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. These observations bring a new insight of the mechanism at the origin of the dust observed at the center of some asymmetric planetary nebulae.