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N. Smith, R.D. Gehrz (U. Minnesota), W.M. Goss (NRAO)
We present multi-epoch HST/WFPC2 H alpha images and 15 GHz VLA continuum images of the massive eclipsing binary RY Scuti. These reveal that the compact ionized rings in its circumstellar nebula are expanding. Proper motions of the outer edge of the nebula across the major axis suggest that the nebula is roughly 120 years old, although complications exist due to non-uniform motion. The expansion strengthens earlier explanations for the formation of the peculiar structures observed in RY Scuti's double-ring nebula, and has important implications for the mass-loss history and evolutionary state of the stellar components. Historical observations lead us to suspect that at least one of the components in the binary system is an S Doradus variable, or a close relative of this class of stars.