Discovery of a bipolar shell around G25.5+0.2

We present new high-resolution and signal-to-noise ratio near-IR observations of the central object and nebula of G25.5+0.2, a heavily reddened luminous blue variable candidate. Imaging reveals that the nebula shows a striking bipolar morphology, reminiscent of the Homunculus of eta Carinae. Two complete limb-brightened lobes are visible, with an apparent double-nested equatorial ring system. Two additional jet or paddle-like features also appear to be present in the equatorial plane of the nebula, apparently emanating from the central star, again in a manner reminiscent of the Homunculus. The H I and He I nebular emission line spectrum, which samples primarily the equatorial ejecta, suggests a peak projected expansion velocity for this material of similar to 180 km s(-1) implying a kinematic age of similar to 2500 yr. The stellar spectrum is suggestive of very high temperatures for the central object, with no evidence of He I 2.058 mu m or H I 2.166 mu m emission. The only unambiguously identifiable emission lines of stellar origin were found to be C IV 2.079 mu m and He II 2.189 mu m, although a broad feature centered on similar to 2.115 mu m possibly corresponds to blended C III, N II, and He I emission.