The structure and momentum of multiple collimated outflows in the protoplanetary nebula Frosty Leo

We have discovered multiple jet-like features in the inner regions of the p rotoplanetary nebula (PPN) Frosty Lee, in optical images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. Frosty Leo is only the second PPN (after CRL2688) a nd the first oxygen-rich one, to show well-focussed jets close to the equat orial plane. The nebula consists of two bright compact structures embedded inside two large tenuous bubbles, separated by a flaring, roughly edge-on d isk. The relatively high surface brightnesses of two ansae and substructure s in the jets imply that the latter have carved out holes in the optically thick central region of the nebula, allowing starlight to escape with very little attenuation. Millimeter-wave CO line observations with the IRAM 30m radiotelescope show the presence of slow (similar to 10km s(-1)) and fast ( >50km s(-1)) components in a molecular outflow associated with the bright i nner(< 10 ") regions of the nebula. The mechanical momentum in the fast out flow is about a factor 500 larger than that available from the stellar radi ation (L/c) during the post-AGE life of the source, and most likely derives from the gravitational energy of a close binary central star.