Spinning-down RU Lup. Constraints on the physics of the outflow from high-resolution spectroscopy

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution spectroscopy to analyze the multi-component outflow of RU Lup, revealing a stratified, rotating disk wind launched near the disk truncation radius that significantly influences stellar angular momentum.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to disentangle velocities in outflows and characterizes the physical regions of the wind in RU Lup with unprecedented detail.

Findings

Discovered a stratified, rotating disk wind in RU Lup.

Identified distinct spatial regions for different outflow components.

Quantified the wind's role in removing stellar spin-up torque.

Abstract

Magnetic winds are a key mechanism for angular momentum removal in young stars. In this work, we aim at characterizing the multi-component outflow of RU Lup. The unprecedented high resolution of the Echelle SPectrograph for Rocky Exoplanets and Stable Spectroscopic Observations (ESPRESSO) enabled a detailed study of the forbidden emission lines and the blueshifted absorption in the lines of the Na I and Ca II doublets, which we resolved in three discrete absorption components at low, medium, and high velocities. We developed a method that disentangles vertical and toroidal velocities in the absorption components and infers the wind launching radius, magnetic lever arm, and mass-loss rate. We identified a low-velocity broad component in the [O I] 5577 line, consistent with a rotating magnetohydrodynamic disk wind launched near the disk truncation radius. We showed that the discrete absorption components trace spatially and physically distinct regions of the outflow. The medium and low velocity components are launched from the inner disk (< 6.76 stellar radii) with low lever arms indicative of warm, highly mass-loaded streamlines. However, the two components differ mainly in vertical velocity. The low velocity absorption is consistent with an outer absorbing shell, while the medium velocity absorption forms near the disk truncation radius. Its higher vertical velocity is compatible with either a slightly larger lever arm, or additional heating at the base of the flow. For plausible ionization levels in the inner disk, this outflow component removes a substantial fraction of the accretion spin-up torque. In conclusion, our work shows that RU Lup hosts a stratified, rotating, warm disk wind launched across a narrow annulus near the disk truncation radius, which is sufficiently mass-loaded to extract a large amount of the stellar spin-up torque. The observations disfavor an X-wind scenario.