Plateau de Bure observations of HL Tauri: outflow motions in a remnant circumstellar envelope.

Details Plateau de Bure observations of HL Tauri: outflow motions in a remnant circumstellar envelope. Plateau de Bure observations of HL Tauri: outflow motions in a remnant circumstellar envelope.

Jan 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996a%26a...305..527c&link_type=abstract

Astronomy and Astrophysics, v.305, p.527

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

36

Stars: Individual Hl Tau, Stars: Pre-Main-Sequence, Ism: Jets And Outflows, Radio Lines: Stars

Scientific paper

We present ^13^CO(J=1-0) observations of HL Tau with the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer (PdBI, 3" beam) and the IRAM 30-m (22" beam). On a large scale, HL Tau drives an anisotropic, mostly redshifted bipolar outflow, and is located within a flattened remnant envelope roughly perpendicular to the jet axis, of mass ~0.2Msun_. PdBI maps reveal small-scale structures nested within these regions. A broad range of velocities is present. However, interferometric maps are severely contaminated by extended emission for velocities less than 0.8km/s from line center, which hampers a totally unambiguous interpretation. In the present analysis we concentrate on velocities sufficiently large to be mostly unaffected by this confusion problem. We do not find convincing evidence for rotation in our data. We also identify several problems with the pure infall interpretation proposed by Hayashi et al. (1993). The required central mass would be at least 1.5-3.5Msun_ for i=55deg-80deg, which seems uncomfortably large. In addition, the detailed velocity structure and the asymmetry between blueshifted and redshifted gas are not well explained. Hence, infall alone cannot reproduce all of our observations. We derive an upper limit to the free-fall rate toward HL Tau of ~6-9x10^-6^Msun_/yr. The problems encountered by an infall model, together with the known presence of a molecular outflow from HL Tau, lead us to propose that kinematics in the remnant envelope around HL Tau are heavily affected by entrained outflow motions. The distinctive blue/red asymmetric structure in our PdBI maps (blueshifted emission is weaker and mostly confined in the system midplane, while redshifted emission is stronger and more closely follows the jet axis) is then naturally accounted for, as the same asymmetry is observed in the large-scale bipolar outflow from HL Tau. The action of jet bowshocks, or the steady-state entrainment of circumstellar gas, seems able to explain the transverse extent of the perturbed gas and its overall kinematics. The net molecular mass outflow rate is large (~4-10x10^-6^Msun_/yr), far exceeding the present disk accretion rate, and at least comparable to the envelope infall rate. Envelope clearing by jet entrainment could then be an important process regulating the inner disk accretion rate in HL Tau, as well as the transition to the fully optically revealed T Tauri stage. If our estimates of outflow and infall rates are correct, the modest remnant mass ~0.2Msun_ inferred from our IRAM 30-m observations indicates that HL Tau has already accumulated most of its final stellar mass, and that it is in a relatively short-lived (<=5x10^4^yr) phase of energetic mass ejection, leading to envelope dispersal.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Plateau de Bure observations of HL Tauri: outflow motions in a remnant circumstellar envelope. does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Plateau de Bure observations of HL Tauri: outflow motions in a remnant circumstellar envelope., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Plateau de Bure observations of HL Tauri: outflow motions in a remnant circumstellar envelope. will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-966994