The University of Western Ontario
The Red Rectangle: a space laboratory for the formation and evolution of interstellar carbon material — This project will analyze JWST observations of the Red Rectangle, a unique nebula surrounding an evolved star, that exhibits all these signatures of carbonaceous dust at the same time. The team will spatially characterize the spectral properties of these carbonaceous components and use their emission to  establish the inventory of carbonaceous species at each location, and map the growth of molecules and trace the processing induced by UV radiation. This will result in a thorough understanding of the formation of carbonaceous species in evolved stars and the impact of photo-chemistry of these species.