Circumstellar structure of RU Lupi down to au scales

M. Takami*, J. Bailey, T. M. Gledhill, A. Chrysostomou, J. H. Hough

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    65 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We have used the technique of spectro-astrometry to study the milliarcsecond scale structure of the emission lines in the T Tauri star RU Lupi. The wings of the Hα emission are found to be displaced from the star towards the south-west (blue wing) and north-east (red wing) with angular scales of 20-30 mas. This structure is consistent with a bipolar outflow from the star. From a study of the variability of the intensity and position spectra, we argue that a combination of magnetically driven bipolar outflow and accreting gas contributes to the Hα emission. On the other hand, the [O I] and [S II] emission are displaced from the star to the south-west but at much larger distances than the Hα, hundreds of milliarcseconds for the high-velocity component (HVC) and down to 30 mas for the low-velocity components (LVCs). The presence of both redshifted and blueshifted outflows in Hα but only a blueshifted outflow in the forbidden lines can be explained if the disc obscures the redshifted forbidden line outflow, but a disc gap with outer radius 3-4 au allows the redshifted Hα to be seen. This gap could be induced by an unseen companion.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)177-187
    Number of pages11
    JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
    Volume323
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2001

    Keywords

    • Accretion, accretion discs
    • ISM: jets and outflows
    • Stars: individual: RU Lupi
    • Stars: pre-mainsequence

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