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ALMA observations of the Th 28 protostellar disk: A new example of counter-rotation between disk and optical jet

2016-12-06, Louvet, F., Dougados, Catherine, Cabrit, Sylvie, Coffey, Deirdre, et al.

Aims. Recently, differences in Doppler shifts across the base of four close classical T Tauri star jets have been detected with the HST in optical and near-ultraviolet (NUV) emission lines, and these Doppler shifts were interpreted as rotation signatures under the assumption of steady state flow. To support this interpretation, it is necessary that the underlying disks rotate in the same sense. Agreement between disk rotation and jet rotation determined from optical lines has been verified in two cases and rejected in one case. Meanwhile, the near-ultraviolet lines, which may trace faster and more collimated inner spines of the jet than optical lines, either agree or show no clear indication. We propose to perform this test on the fourth system, Th 28. Methods. We present ALMA high angular resolution Band 7 continuum, 12CO(3-2) and 13CO(2-1) observations of the circumstellar disk around the T Tauri star Th 28. Results. The sub-arcsecond angular resolution (0.46′′× 0.37′′) and high sensitivity reached enable us to detect, in CO and continuum, clear signatures of a disk in Keplerian rotation around Th 28. The 12CO emission is clearly resolved, allowing us to derive estimates of disk position angle and inclination. The large velocity separation of the peaks in 12CO, combined with the resolved extent of the emission, indicate a central stellar mass in the range 1-2 MâŠ(tm). The rotation sense of the disk is well detected in both 13CO and 12CO emission lines, and this direction is opposite to that implied by the transverse Doppler shifts measured in the optical lines of the jet. Conclusions. The Th 28 system is now the second system, among the four investigated so far, where counter-rotation between the disk and the optical jet is detected. These findings imply either that optical transverse velocity gradients detected with HST do not trace jet rotation or that modeling the flow with the steady assumption is not valid. In both cases jet rotation studies that rely solely on optical lines are not suitable to derive the launching radius of the jet.

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A search for consistent jet and disk rotation signatures in RY tau

2015-05-01, Coffey, Deirdre, Dougados, Catherine, Cabrit, Sylvie, Pety, Jerome, Bacciotti, Francesca

We present a radial velocity study of the RY Tau jet-disk system, designed to determine whether a transfer of angular momentum from disk to jet can be observed. Many recent studies report on the rotation of T Tauri disks and on what may be a signature of T Tauri jet rotation. However, due to observational difficulties, few studies report on both disk and jet within the same system to establish if the senses of rotation match and hence can be interpreted as a transfer of angular momentum. We report a clear signature of Keplerian rotation in the RY Tau disk, based on Plateau de Bure observations. We also report on the transverse radial velocity profile of the RY Tau jet close to the star. We identify two distinct profile shapes: a v-shape, which appears near jet shock positions, and a flat profile, which appears between shocks. We do not detect a rotation signature above 3σ uncertainty in any of our transverse cuts of the jet. Nevertheless, if the jet is currently in steady-state, the errors themselves provide a valuable upper limit on the jet toroidal velocity of 10 km s-1, implying a launch radius of ≤0.45 AU. However, possible contamination of jet kinematics, via shocks or precession, prevents any firm constraint on the jet launch point, since most of its angular momentum could be stored in magnetic form rather than in rotation of matter.