In this paper we present the results of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) ob- servations carried out with the VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA) array and the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) toward H2O masers in a young planetary nebula K 3-35. From the VERA observations we measured the annual parallax and proper mo- tion of a bright water maser spot in K 3-35. The resulting distance is D = 3.9+0.7 kpc. -0.5 This is the first time that the parallax of a planetary nebula is obtained by observations of its maser emission. On the other hand, the proper motion of K 3-35 as a whole was esti- mated to be {mu}{alpha} = -3.34+/-0.10 mas yr-1, {mu}{delta} = -5.93+/-0.07 mas yr-1. From these results we determined the position and velocity of K 3-35 in Galactic cylindrical coordinates: (R,{theta},z) = (7.11+0.08-0.06 kpc, 27+/-5{circ}, 140+25-18 pc) and (VR, V{theta}, Vz) = (33+/-16, 233+/-11, 11+/-2) km s-1, respectively. Additionally, from our VLBA observations we measured the relative proper motions among the water maser spots located in the central region of the nebula, which have been proposed to be tracing a toroidal structure. The distribution and relative proper motions of the masers, compared with previous reported observed epochs, suggest that such structure could be totally destroyed within a few years, due to the action of high velocity winds and the expansion of the ionization front in the nebula.
Download