Detection of CO 2 ice in the planetary nebula NGC 6302

Bhatt, C., Cao, S. W., Cami, J., Clark, N., Ehrenfreund, P. and Matsuura, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5529-5593 2026. Detection of CO 2 ice in the planetary nebula NGC 6302. Astronomy & Astrophysics 708 , L13. 10.1051/0004-6361/202558267

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Abstract

Using JWST/MIRI observations, we report the detection of CO 2 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 CO 2 along the same sightlines. The ice absorption profile exhibits a double-peak profile, which is characteristic of pure crystalline CO 2 ice. The CO 2 gas-to-ice ratio is higher by more than an order of magnitude 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.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Physics and Astronomy
Additional Information:	Full author list available at DOI
Publisher:	EDP Sciences
ISSN:	0004-6361
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	28 April 2026
Date of Acceptance:	23 February 2026
Last Modified:	28 Apr 2026 10:31
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/186677

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