HST+NICMOS and IRTF+NSFCam images of the long-period binary system WR 137 = HD 192641 (WC7 + O9). The HST image (left) was obtained on 18 May 1998 with the NICMOS-2 camera (0.075 arcsec/pixel) through the F237M filter (central wavelenth = 2.37 µ). The IRTF image (right) was obtained on 15 October 1998 with the NSFCam camera (0.056 arcsec/pixel) using the Shift & Add mode and the K band filter. Both images were deconvolved using a maximum entropy image restoration algorithm and a point-spread function generated from images of the dust-free WN system WR 138. The images indicate the presence of a one-sided (jet-like) dust feature created in the wind-wind collision zone (where the strong wind from the WR star is wrapped around the weaker-wind O star companion). (The "X" denotes the position of the binary, which is unresolved.) The five-month time difference between the HST and IRTF images reveals several changes in the dust feature, including a brightening of the inner regions (close to the binary) and a gradual extension and cooling of the most distant regions of the dust feature.

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