Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS Imaging Polarimetry of Proto-Planetary Nebulae. II. Macromorphology of the Dust Shell Structure via Polarized Light

Abstract

The structure of the dusty circumstellar envelopes (CSEs) of proto-planetary nebulae (PPNs) reveals the mass-loss history of these sources and how such histories may differ for elliptical (SOLE) and bipolar (DUPLEX) PPNs. To study the PPN structures via dust-scattered linearly polarized starlight, we have compiled the imaging-polarimetric data for all 18 evolved stars that have been obtained to date with NICMOS on board the Hubble Space Telescope. This alternative imaging technique provides a unique way to probe the distribution of dust grains that scatter light around evolved stars. The new perspective gained from the imaging-polarimetric data has revealed several new aspects to the structures of PPNs. Point symmetry is a prevalent imaging-polarimetric characteristic resulting from the azimuthal density gradient in the CSEs. Among these point-symmetric nebulae, three detailed morphological types can be differentiated by their polarized intensity, Ip, and polarization strength, P. While the azimuthal density gradient is reversed above and below the equatorial plane in optically thicker bipolar nebulae, there is no gradient reversal in optically thinner elliptical nebulae. The equatorial plane of the system defined by the integrated angle of polarization is not necessarily orthogonal to the axis of the apparent bipolar structure in the total intensity data.