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Register a new userSub-arcsecond high sensitivity measurements of the DG~Tau jet with e-MERLIN
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Authors
Rachael E. Ainsworth
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We present very high spatial resolution deep radio continuum observations at 5 GHz (6 cm) made with e-MERLIN of the young stars DG Tau A and B. Assuming it is launched very close (~=1 au) from the star, our results suggest that the DG Tau A outflow initially starts as a poorly focused wind and undergoes significant collimation further along the jet (~=50 au). We derive jet parameters for DG Tau A and find an initial jet opening angle of 86 degrees within 2 au of the source, a mass-loss rate of 1.5x10^-8 solar masses/yr for the ionised component of the jet, and the total ejection/accretion ratio to range from 0.06-0.3. These results are in line with predictions from MHD jet-launching theories.
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We have carried out a spatio-kinematic study of the outflow from the classical T Tauri star DG Tau using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). A series of seven spatially offset long-slit spectra spaced by 0.07 were obtained along the axis of the outflow to build up a 3-D intensity-velocity ``cube in various forbidden emission lines (FELs) and Ha. Here we present high spatial resolution synthetic line images close to the star in distinct radial velocity intervals (from ~ +50 km/s to ~ -450 km/s in four bins, each ~ 125 km/s wide). The lowest velocity emission is also examined in finer detail (from +60 km/s to -70 km/s in five bins ~ 25 km/s wide). We have found that the highest velocity and most highly collimated component, i.e. the jet, can be traced from DG Tau to a distance D ~ 0.7. The jet is on the axis of a pear-shaped limb-brightened bubble which extends between 0.4 and 1.5 from the source and which we interpret as a bow shock. Other condensations are seen close to the star indicating ongoing temporal variations in the flow. The low-velocity component of the outflow is found to be spatially wide close to the source (~ 0.2 at D=0.2), in contrast to the high velocity jet (width <~ 0.1). We have also found evidence to suggest that the density increases longitudinally with proximity to the source and also laterally towards the flow axis. Thus, at least in the case of DG Tau, the flow becomes gradually denser as it increases in velocity and becomes more collimated. Our observations show a continous bracketing of the higher speed central flow within the lower speed, less collimated, broader flow, down to the lowest velocity scales. This suggests that the low and high velocity FELs in the highly active T Tauri star DG Tau are intimately related.
We present $^{12}$CO(2-1) line and 1300 $mu$m continuum observations made with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) of the young star DG Tau B. We find, in the continuum observations, emission arising from the circumstellar disk surrounding DG Tau B. The $^{12}$CO(2-1) line observations, on the other hand, revealed emission associated with the disk and the asymmetric outflow related with this source. Velocity asymmetries about the flow axis are found over the entire length of the flow. The amplitude of the velocity differences is of the order of 1 -- 2 km s$^{-1}$ over distances of about 300 -- 400 AU. We interpret them as a result of outflow rotation. The sense of the outflow and disk rotation is the same. Infalling gas from a rotating molecular core cannot explain the observed velocity gradient within the flow. Magneto-centrifugal disk winds or photoevaporated disk winds can produce the observed rotational speeds if they are ejected from a keplerian disk at radii of several tens of AU. Nevertheless, these slow winds ejected from large radii are not very massive, and cannot account for the observed linear momentum and angular momentum rates of the molecular flow. Thus, the observed flow is probably entrained material from the parent cloud. DG Tau B is a good laboratory to model in detail the entrainment process and see if it can account for the observed angular momentum.
Water is key in the evolution of protoplanetary disks and the formation of comets and icy/water planets. While high excitation water lines originating in the hot inner disk have been detected in several T Tauri stars (TTSs), water vapor from the outer disk, where most of water ice reservoir is stored, was only reported in the closeby TTS TW Hya. We present spectrally resolved Herschel/HIFI observations of the young TTS DG Tau in the ortho- and para- water ground-state transitions at 557, 1113 GHz. The lines show a narrow double-peaked profile, consistent with an origin in the outer disk, and are ~19-26 times brighter than in TW Hya. In contrast, CO and [C II] lines are dominated by emission from the envelope/outflow, which makes H2O lines a unique tracer of the disk of DG Tau. Disk modeling with the thermo-chemical code ProDiMo indicates that the strong UV field, due to the young age and strong accretion of DG Tau, irradiates a disk upper layer at 10-90 AU from the star, heating it up to temperatures of 600 K and producing the observed bright water lines. The models suggest a disk mass of 0.015-0.1 Msun, consistent with the estimated minimum mass of the solar nebula before planet formation, and a water reservoir of ~1e2-1e3 Earth oceans in vapour, and ~100 times larger in the form of ice. Hence, this detection supports the scenario of ocean delivery on terrestrial planets by impact of icy bodies forming in the outer disk.
We present results from the first successful millimetre (combined 33 GHz and 35 GHz) observations of the neutron star X-ray binary Circinus X-1, using the Australia Telescope Compact Array. The source was clearly detected in all three observing epochs. We see strong evidence for a periastron flare beginning at MJD 55519.9 pm 0.04 with estimated peak flux densities of up to 50 mJy and which proceeds to decline over the following four days. We directly resolve jet structures on sub-arcsecond scales. Flux density variability and distance from the core of nearby components suggests recent shock re-energisation, though we are unable to directly connect this with the observed flare. We suggest that, if the emission is powered by an unseen outflow, then a phase delay exists between flare onset and subsequent brightening of nearby components, with flows reaching mildly relativistic velocities. Given resolved structure positions, in comparison to past observations of Cir X-1, we find evidence that jet direction may vary with distance from the core, or the sources precession parameters have changed.
A consortium of universities has recently been formed with the goal of using the decommissioned telecommunications infrastructure at the Goonhilly Earth Station in Cornwall, UK, for astronomical purposes. One particular goal is the introduction of one or more of the ~30-metre parabolic antennas into the existing e-MERLIN radio interferometer. This article introduces this scheme and presents some simulations which quantify the improvements that would be brought to the e-MERLIN system. These include an approximate doubling of the spatial resolution of the array, an increase in its N-S extent with strong implications for imaging the most well-studied equatorial fields, accessible to ESO facilities including ALMA. It also increases the overlap between the e-MERLIN array and the European VLBI Network. We also discuss briefly some niche science areas in which an e-MERLIN array which included a receptor at Goonhilly would be potentially world-leading, in addition to enhancing the existing potential of e-MERLIN in its role as a Square Kilometer Array pathfinder instrument.
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