We investigate the mass loss from a rotationally distorted envelope following the early , rapid in-spiral of a companion star inside a common envelope .
For initially wide , massive binaries ( M _ { 1 } + M _ { 2 } = 20 M _ { \odot } , P \sim 10 yr ) , the primary has a convective envelope at the onset of mass transfer and is able to store much of the available orbital angular momentum in its expanded envelope .
Three-dimensional SPH calculations show that mass loss is enhanced at mid-latitudes due to shock reflection from a torus-shaped outer envelope .
Mass ejection in the equatorial plane is completely suppressed if the shock wave is too weak to penetrate the outer envelope in the equatorial direction ( typically when the energy deposited in the star is less than about one-third of the binding energy of the envelope ) .
We present a parameter study to show how the geometry of the ejecta depends on the angular momentum and the energy deposited in the envelope during a merging event .
Applications to the nearly axisymmetric , but very non-spherical nebulae around SN 1987A and Sheridan 25 are discussed , as well as possible links to RY Scuti and the Small Magellanic Cloud object R4 .