Imaging the warped dusty disk wind environment of SU Aurigae with MIRC-X^★

¹ European Southern Observatory, Casilla 19001, Santiago 19, Chile
e-mail: al612@exeter.ac.uk
² University of Exeter, School of Physics and Astronomy, Astrophysics Group, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QL, UK
³ University of Michigan, Department of Astronomy, S University Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
⁴ Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, 38058 Grenoble, France
⁵ The CHARA Array of Georgia State University, Mount Wilson Observatory, Mount Wilson, CA 91023, USA

Received: 29 December 2022
Accepted: 12 July 2023

Abstract

Context. T Tauri stars are low-mass young stars whose disks provide the setting for planet formation, which is one of the most fundamental processes in astronomy. Yet the mechanisms of this are still poorly understood. SU Aurigae is a widely studied T Tauri star and here we present original state-of-the-art interferometric observations with better uv and baseline coverage than previous studies.

Aims. We aim to investigate the characteristics of the circumstellar material around SU Aur, and constrain the disk geometry, composition and inner dust rim structure.

Methods. The MIRC-X instrument at CHARA is a six-telescope optical beam combiner offering baselines up to 331 m. We undertook image reconstruction for model-independent analysis, and fitted geometric models such as Gaussian and ring distributions. Additionally, the fitting of radiative transfer models constrained the physical parameters of the disk.

Results. Image reconstruction reveals a highly inclined disk with a slight asymmetry consistent with inclination effects obscuring the inner disk rim through absorption of incident star light on the near side and thermal re-emission/scattering of the far side. Geometric models find that the underlying brightness distribution is best modelled as a Gaussian with a Full-Width Half-Maximum of 1.53 ± 0.01 mas at an inclination of 56.9 ± 0.4° and a minor axis position angle of 55.9 ± 0.5°. Radiative transfer modelling shows a flared disk with an inner radius at 0.16 au which implies a grain size of 0.14 μm assuming astronomical silicates and a scale height of 9.0 au at 100 au. In agreement with the literature, only the dusty disk wind successfully accounts for the near infrared excess by introducing dust above the mid-plane.

Conclusions. Our results confirm and provide better constraints than previous inner disk studies of SU Aurigae. We confirm the presence of a dusty disk wind in the cicumstellar environment, the strength of which is enhanced by a late infall event which also causes very strong misalignments between the inner and outer disks.