P80	February 2003

¹ Institut d'Astrophysique et de Géophysique - Université de Liège, Allée du 6 Août, Bât B5c, B-4000 Liège (Sart Tilman), Belgium
² Astronomy Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1002 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA

^* Research Fellow FNRS, Belgium
^** Research Associate FNRS, Belgium
^*** Research Director FNRS, Belgium

⁺ Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Cerro Paranal, Chile (ESO No. 68.C-0238(A,B)).

Abstract

     We present the first high resolution He II 4686 images of the high excitation nebula around the WR star Brey 2 in the LMC. This nebula presents a striking morphology: a small arc-like feature some 3.6 pc in radius is particularly prominent in the He II 4686 line. We further discover a previously unknown faint He II emission that extends over an area of 22x17 pc². An even fainter He II emission is apparently associated with the interstellar bubble blown by the progenitor of Brey2. The total He II flux corresponds to an ionizing flux of 4x10⁴⁷ photons s^-1. H, [O III] and He I 5876 images and long-slit spectra are also examined in this letter, enabling us to investigate the detailed physical properties at various locations of the nebula.