Westbrook's Molecular Gun: Discovery of Near-IR Micro-Structures in AFGL 618

Abstract

We present high-sensitivity near-IR images of a carbon-rich proto-planetary nebula, AFGL 618, obtained with the Subaru Telescope. These images have revealed ``bullets'' and ``horns'' extending farther out from the edges of the previously known bipolar lobes. The spatial coincidence between these near-IR micro-structures and the optical collimated outflow structure, together with the detection of shock-excited, forbidden IR lines of atomic species, strongly suggests that these bullets and horns represent the locations from which [\ion{Fe}{2}] IR lines arise. We have also discovered CO clumps moving at $> 200$ km s$^{-1}$ at the positions of the near-IR bullets by re-analyzing the existing $^{12}$CO $J=1-0$ interferometry data. These findings indicate that the near-IR micro-structures represent the positions of shocked surfaces at which fast-moving molecular clumps interface with the ambient circumstellar shell.