Published November 10, 2016 | Version v1
Journal article

TRACING SLOW WINDS FROM T TAURI STARS VIA LOW-VELOCITY FORBIDDEN LINE EMISSION

  • 1. Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)
  • 2. Five College Astronomy Department, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063 (United States)
  • 3. School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287 (United States)
  • 4. SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043 (United States)
  • 5. Institute for Astronomy, ETH Zurich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 27, CH-8093 Zurich (Switzerland)

Description

Using Keck/HIRES spectra (Δ v ∼ 7 km s-1) we analyze forbidden lines of [O i] 6300 Å, [O i] 5577 Å and [S ii] 6731 Å from 33 T Tauri stars covering a range of disk evolutionary stages. After removing a high-velocity component (HVC) associated with microjets, we study the properties of the low-velocity component (LVC). The LVC can be attributed to slow disk winds that could be magnetically (magnetohydrodynamic) or thermally (photoevaporative) driven. Both of these winds play an important role in the evolution and dispersal of protoplanetary material. LVC emission is seen in all 30 stars with detected [O i] but only in two out of eight with detected [S ii], so our analysis is largely based on the properties of the [O i] LVC. The LVC itself is resolved into broad (BC) and narrow (NC) kinematic components. Both components are found over a wide range of accretion rates and their luminosity is correlated with the accretion luminosity, but the NC is proportionately stronger than the BC in transition disks. The full width at half maximum of both the BC and NC correlates with disk inclination, consistent with Keplerian broadening from radii of 0.05 to 0.5 au and 0.5 to 5 au, respectively. The velocity centroids of the BC suggest formation in an MHD disk wind, with the largest blueshifts found in sources with closer to face-on orientations. The velocity centroids of the NC, however, show no dependence on disk inclination. The origin of this component is less clear and the evidence for photoevaporation is not conclusive.

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/831/2/169

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Astrophysical Journal
Journal Volume
831
Journal Issue
2
Journal Page Range
[30 p.]
ISSN
0004-637X
CODEN
ASJOAB