Program: GS-2018A-FT-106

Studying extreme radio-wave scintillation of quasars, with the Australian Telescope Compact Array, we have discovered that the scattering plasma consists of radial filaments around local, hot, main-sequence stars. The size, number, location and orientation of these filaments are all similar to the cometary plasma structures seen in the Helix Nebula, which argues strongly for a similar origin, i.e. UV irradiation of tiny, molecular globules. We have discovered an excellent candidate of an Halpha-emitting cloud which is associated with Spica, the 16th brightest star in the night sky. We now seek a confirmation spectrum to show that the Halpha is in the Galactic rest frame, and search for additional ionised nebula lines.