MWC 778 is an unusual and little-studied young stellar object located in the IC 2144 nebula .
Recent spectroscopy by Herbig and Vacca ( 2008 ) suggested the presence of an edge-on circumstellar disk around it .
We present near-infrared adaptive optics imaging polarimetry and mid-infrared imaging which directly confirm the suspected nearly-edge-on disk around MWC 778 ( i \sim 70 \arcdeg - 80 \arcdeg ) plus reveal a more extensive envelope pierced by bipolar outflow cavities .
In addition , our mid-infrared images and near-infrared polarization maps detect a spiral-shaped structure surrounding MWC 778 , with arms that extend beyond 6″ on either side of the star .

Although MWC 778 has previously been classified as an Herbig Ae/Be star , the properties of its central source ( including its spectral type ) remain fairly uncertain .
Herbig & Vacca ( 2008 ) suggested an F or G spectral type based on the presence of metallic absorption lines in the optical spectrum , which implies that MWC 778 may belong to the fairly rare class of Intermediate-Mass T Tauri Stars ( IMTTSs ) which are the evolutionary precursors to Herbig Ae/Be objects .
Yet its integrated bolometric luminosity , \gtrsim 750 L _ { \odot } ( for an assumed distance of 1 kpc ) is surprisingly high for an F or G spectral type , even for an IMTTS .
We speculate on several possible explanations for this discrepancy , including its true distance being much closer than 1 kpc , the presence of a binary companion , and/or a non-stellar origin for the observed absorption lines .