The density profile of the elliptical planetary nebula NGC 3242

We present the three-dimensional density structure of the elliptical planetary nebula NGC 3242, deconvolved from its Ha image. Using the simplistic assumptions that each mass element preserves its original velocity, which is radial and depends only on latitude, we deduce from this density profile the variation of mass-loss rate from the progenitor of NGC 3242 with latitude and time. The resulting somewhat qualitative mass-loss geometry and history are used to constrain models for the formation of the elliptical structure of NGC 3242. We argue that a triple system, with a very close brown dwarf companion and a more massive distant tertiary star, is compatible with the morphology of NGC 3242. In this model the brown dwarf, of ~∼0.01 M_⊙, shared a common envelope with the progenitor star, and spun up the envelope through deposition of angular momentum. The oblate rotating envelope blew an axisymmetrical wind. We suggest that the presence of a third star, with a mass of ∼1 M_⊙ and an orbital period of ∼4000 years, could have caused the large scale deviation from axial symmetry seen in the density structure.