Hubble Space Telescope Imaging of the Expanding Nebular Remnant of the 2006 Outburst of RS Ophiuchi

D. J. Harman, M. F. Bode, M. J. Darnley, T. J. O'Brien, H. E. Bond, S. Starrfield, A. Evans, S. P. S. Eyres, V. A. R. M. Ribeiro, J. M. Echevarria

Published 2008-09-26, updated 2009-04-24Version 2

We report {\it Hubble Space Telescope} imaging obtained 155 days and 449 days after the 2006 outburst of RS Ophiuchi. Both epochs show evidence of extended emission, consistent with that seen in earlier radio observations, and a maximum expansion rate of $3200\pm300$ km s$^{-1}$ (in the plane of the sky). The extended structure is consistent with the remnant having a bipolar morphology with an inclination similar to that determined for the binary.