Dissecting the AGB star L2 Puppis: a torus in the making

The circumstellar environment of L2 Pup, an oxygen-rich semiregular variable, was observed to understand the evolution of mass loss and the shaping of ejecta in the late stages of stellar evolution. High-angular resolution observations from a single 8 m telescope were obtained using aperture masking in the near-infrared (1.64, 2.30 and 3.74 $rmmu m$) on the NACO/VLT, both in imaging and polarimetric modes. The aperture-masking images of L2 Pup at 2.30 $rmmu m$ show a resolved structure that resembles a toroidal structure with a major axis of ~140 milliarcseconds (mas) and an east-west orientation. Two clumps can be seen on either side of the star, ~65 mas from the star, beyond the edge of the circumstellar envelope (estimated diameter is ~27 mas), while a faint, hook-like structure appear toward the northeast. The patterns are visible both in the imaging and polarimetric mode, although the latter was only used to measure the total intensity (Stokes I). The overall shape of the structure is similar at the 3.74 $rmmu m$ pseudo-continuum (dust emission), where the clumps appear to be embedded within a dark, dusty lane. The faint, hook-like patterns are also seen at this wavelength, extending northeast and southwest with the central, dark lane being an apparent axis of symmetry. We interpret the structure as a circumstellar torus with inner radius of 4.2 au. With a rotation velocity of 10 km s$^{-1}$ as suggested by the SiO maser profile, we estimate a stellar mass of 0.7 M$_odot$.}