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We have observed the mass-losing carbon star V Hya that is apparently transitioning from an asymptotic giant branch star to a bipolar planetary nebula, at an unprecedented angular resolution of ∼0.″4–0.″6 with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Our¹³CO and¹²CO (J= 3–2 andJ= 2–1) images have led to the discovery of a remarkable set of six expanding rings within a flared, warped disk structure undergoing dynamical expansion (DUDE) that lies in the system’s equatorial plane. We also find, for the first time, several bipolar, high-velocity outflows, some of which have parabolic morphologies, implying wide-opening angles, while one (found previously) is clumpy and highly collimated. The latter is likely associated with the high-velocity bullet-like ejections of ionized gas from V Hya; a possible molecular counterpart to the oldest of the four bullets can be seen in the¹²CO images. We find a bright, unresolved central source of continuum emission (FWHM size ≲165 au); about 40% of this emission can be produced in a standard radio photosphere, while the remaining 60% is likely due to thermal emission from very large (millimeter-sized) grains, having mass ≳10⁻⁵M_⊙. We have used a radiative transfer model to fit the salient characteristics of the DUDE’s¹³CO and¹²CO emission out to a radius of 8″ (3200 au) with a flared disk of mass 1.7 × 10⁻³M_⊙, whose expansion velocity increases very rapidly with the radius inside a central region of size ∼200 au, and then more slowly outside it, from 9.5 to 11.5 km s⁻¹. The DUDE’s underlying density decreases radially, interspersed with local increases that represent the observationally well-characterized innermost three rings.

Binary interactions dominate the evolution of massive stars, but their role is less clear for low- and intermediate-mass stars. The evolution of a spherical wind from an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star into a nonspherical planetary nebula (PN) could be due to binary interactions. We observed a sample of AGB stars with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and found that their winds exhibit distinct nonspherical geometries with morphological similarities to planetary nebulae (PNe). We infer that the same physics shapes both AGB winds and PNe; additionally, the morphology and AGB mass-loss rate are correlated. These characteristics can be explained by binary interaction. We propose an evolutionary scenario for AGB morphologies that is consistent with observed phenomena in AGB stars and PNe.