APOD: MWC 922: The Red Square Nebula (2011 Mar 23)

[geckzilla]

I was looking over them during these posts and didn't find any. There are some that are more nicely symmetrical and others that are more sloppy looking but there are none that I know of that are totally devoid of symmetry.

Again, you might be overreading my initial comment. I'm not talking about totally asymmetric objects (although that would be fascinating), just objects that have obviously significant asymmetries, like paired lobes of very different sizes, or jets in just one direction. Since all of these objects originated in (presumably) highly symmetric bodies, the source of the asymmetry becomes very interesting.

Calabash it is, then. I don't think there is a more dramatic example.

[Chris Peterson]

Calabash it is, then. I don't think there is a more dramatic example.

Yeah, that's exactly the sort of think I had in mind. It immediately makes me wonder where the asymmetry was in the parent body, or what mechanism converted a tiny asymmetry to a massive one.

[geckzilla]

It looks like it was capped or muffled by something, somehow, while the other end was more open. The question is what. Did it just happen to line up perfectly with a companion star or is it something to do with the dust toroid? The dust waist seems more pronounced on the smaller end.

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

"It" is an extremely interesting image. Crazy that the two lobes are asymmetrical from this angle

Tri Exhaust.jpg (10.2 KiB) Viewed 19279 times

and that the central area is that toroid. Wonder if it is overlapping, separated or if "X" makes the spot that it originated from?
http://gemstonetherapy.info/articles/sacredgeometry.htm (The source is a bit unscientific but I'll use it to demonstrate the concept)

Wonder how big the image is compared to other planetary nebulas?

[geckzilla]

That is more than a bit unscientific and also completely unnecessary, Ron. Not sure what you wanted to accomplish with that but I hope to purge it from my memory so that precious neurons may be utilized for other memories.

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

The one that should have got away!!!

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

Teach me not to read the explanation first. In the link "above image" - the point had already been made.