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ABSTRACT NGC 6302 is a spectacular bipolar planetary nebula (PN) whose spectrum exhibits fast outflows and highly ionized emission lines, indicating the presence of a very hot central star ($${\sim}$$220 000 K). Its infrared spectrum reveals a mixed oxygen and carbon dust chemistry, displaying both silicate and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) features. Using the James Webb Space Telescope Mid-Infrared Instrument and Medium Resolution Spectrometer, a mosaic map was obtained over the core of NGC 6302, covering the wavelength range of 5–28 $$\mu$$m and spanning an area of $${\sim}$$18.5 arcsec $$\times$$ 15arcsec. The spatially resolved spectrum reveals $${\sim}$$200 molecular and ionized lines from species requiring ionization potentials of up to 205 eV. The spatial distributions highlight a complex structure at the nebula’s centre. Highly ionized species such as [Mg vii] and [Si vii] show compact structures, while lower ionization species such as H$^+$ extend much farther outwards, forming filament-defined rims that delineate a bubble. Within the bubble, the H$^+$ and H$$_2$$ emission coincide, while the PAH emission appears farther out, indicating an ionization structure distinct from typical photodissociation regions, such as the Orion Bar. This may be the first identification of a PAH formation site in a PN. This PN appears to be shaped not by a steady, continuous outflow, but by a series of dynamic, impulsive bubble ejections, creating local conditions conducive to PAH formation. A dusty torus surrounds the core, primarily composed of large ($$\mu$$m-sized) silicate grains with crystalline components. The long-lived torus contains a substantial mass of material, which could support an equilibrium chemistry and a slow dust-formation process. 

Abstract NGC 6302 (The Butterfly Nebula) is an extremely energetic and rapidly expanding bipolar planetary nebula (PN). If the central source is a single star, then its apparent location in an H-R diagram places it among the most massive, hottest, and presumably rapidly evolving of all central stars of PNe. Our proper motion study of NGC 6302, based on Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 images spanning 11 yr, has uncovered at least four different pairs of uniformly expanding internal lobes ejected at various times and orientations over the past two millennia at speeds ranging from 10–600 km s⁻¹. In addition, we find a pair of collimated off-axis flows in constant motion at ∼770 ± 100 km s⁻¹within which bright [Feii]feathersare conspicuous. Combining our results with those previously published, we find that the ensemble of flows has an ionized mass >0.1M_⊙and its kinetic energy, between 10⁴⁶and 10⁴⁸erg, lies at the upper end of gravity-powered PNe ejection processes such as stellar mergers or mass accretion. We assemble our results into a plausible historical timeline of ejections from the nucleus and suggest that the ejections are powered by gravitational infall. 

Abstract We present the results of a comprehensive, near-UV-to-near-IR Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) imaging study of the young planetary nebula (PN) NGC 6302, the archetype of the class of extreme bilobed, pinched-waist PNe that are rich in dust and molecular gas. The new WFC3 emission-line image suite clearly defines the dusty toroidal equatorial structure that bisects NGC 6302's polar lobes, and the fine structures (clumps, knots, and filaments) within the lobes. The most striking aspect of the new WFC3 image suite is the bright, S-shaped 1.64 μ m [Fe ii ] emission that traces the southern interior of the east lobe rim and the northern interior of the west lobe rim, in point-symmetric fashion. We interpret this [Fe ii ] emitting region as a zone of shocks caused by ongoing, fast (∼100 km s −1 ), collimated, off-axis winds from NGC 6302's central star(s). The [Fe ii ] emission and a zone of dusty, N- and S-rich clumps near the nebular symmetry axis form wedge-shaped structures on opposite sides of the core, with boundaries marked by sharp azimuthal ionization gradients. Comparison of our new images with earlier HST/WFC3 imaging reveals that the object previously identified as NGC 6302's central star is a foreground field star. Shell-like inner lobe features may instead pinpoint the obscured central star’s actual position within the nebula’s dusty central torus. The juxtaposition of structures revealed in this HST/WFC3 imaging study of NGC 6302 presents a daunting challenge for models of the origin and evolution of bipolar PNe.