Detection of CO₂ ice in the planetary nebula NGC 6302

C. Bhatt (Univ. of Western Ontario), S.W. Cao (Univ. of Western Ontario), J. Cami (Univ. of Western Ontario), N. Clark (Univ. of Western Ontario), P. Ehrenfreund (Leiden Univ.), E. Peeters (Univ. of Western Ontario), M. Matsuura (Cardiff Univ.), G.C. Sloan (STScI, UNC), H.L. Dinerstein (Univ. of Texas Austin), P. Kavanagh (Maynooth Univ.), K. Volk (STScI), I. Aleman (Lab. Nac. Astrof. Brazil), M.J. Barlow (UC London), K. Justannont (Chalmers Univ. of Tech.), K.E. Kraemer (Boston College), J.H. Kastner (Rochester Inst. of Tech.), F. Kemper (ICE, CSIC, IEEC in Barcelona), H. Monteiro (Cardiff Univ., Univ. Fed. Itajuba), R. Sahai (JPL), N.C. Sterling (Univ. of W. Georgia), J.R. Walsh (ESO), L.B.F.M. Waters (Radboud Univ., SRON), A.A. Zijlstra (Univ. of Manchester)

2026, A&A, 708, L13

Full manuscript available locally (PDF), from the arXiv (2602.22366), or from Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Using JWST/MIRI observations, we report the detection of CO₂ ice in the dusty torus of the planetary nebula NGC 6302, an environment generally considered hostile to fragile molecular species and ices due to intense UV irradiation. This detection accompanies cold (20-50 K) gas-phase CO₂ along the same sightlines. The ice absorption profile exhibits a double-peak profile, which is characteristic of pure crystalline CO₂ ice. The CO₂ gas-to-ice ratio is higher by more than an magnitude higher than in young stellar objects, which indicates distinct ice formation or processing mechanisms in evolved stellar environments. This discovery demonstrates that the dusty torus provides sufficient shielding to harbor ice chemistry, and that ice-mediated surface reactions must be incorporated into chemical models of planetary nebulae.

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Last modified 1 May, 2026. © Gregory C. Sloan and others.