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M. Bobrowsky (Orbital Sciences Corporation), M. Meixner (U. Illinois), D. Axon (U. Manchester), D. C. Hines (U. Arizona), C. Skinner (formerly STScI; deceased 1997 October 20)
The Carbon Star IRC+10216 is still highly obscured in the visible domain, but is very bright in the infrared \(IR\). It appears to be in the final stages of red giant evolution, and has expelled mass in the form of a stellar wind. Our HST images reveal a significant scattered \(and polarized\) component in the near--IR, while the mid-- to far--IR emission comes from a dusty wind. Although mm-wavelength rotational spectral lines from various molecules indicate that there is spherical symmetry at large radii, the optical emission that we now see closer to the star comes from a bipolar reflection nebula. The polarimetry and IR images that we present here show this bipolar structure and clearly reveal the central star of IRC+10216. These images and the spectral energy distribution of IRC+10216 can be modelled as an equatorially--enhanced dusty superwind.