An Ionized Outflow from AB Aur, a Herbig Ae Star with a Transitional Disk

Abstract

AB Aur is a Herbig Ae star with a transitional disk. Transitional disks present substantial dust clearing in their inner regions, most probably because of the formation of one or more planets, although other explanations are still viable. In transitional objects, accretion is found to be about an order of magnitude smaller than in classical full disks. Since accretion is believed to be correlated with outflow activity, centimeter free-free jets are expected to be present in association with these systems, at weaker levels than in classical protoplanetary (full) systems. We present new observations of the centimeter radio emission associated with the inner regions of AB Aur and conclude that the morphology, orientation, spectral index and lack of temporal variability of the centimeter source imply the presence of a collimated, ionized outflow. The radio luminosity of this radio jet is, however, about 20 times smaller than that expected for a classical system of similar bolometric luminosity. We conclude that centimeter continuum emission is present in association with stars with transitional disks, but at levels than are becoming detectable only with the upgraded radio arrays. On the other hand, assuming that the jet velocity is 300 km s${}^{-1}$, we find that the ratio of mass loss rate to accretion rate in AB Aur is $\sim$0.1, similar to that found for less evolved systems.

12 pages, 3 figures, accepted in The Astrophysical Journal Letters

References in corpus (7)

• Accretion Rates in Herbig Ae stars
• Direct Imaging of Fine Structures in Giant Planet Forming Regions of the Protoplanetary Disk around AB Aurigae
• Demographics of Transition Objects
• LkH$\alpha$ 330: Evidence for dust clearing through resolved submillimeter imaging
• Spatial separation of small and large grains in the transitional disk around the young star IRS 48
• Low EUV Luminosities Impinging on Protoplanetary Disks
• Possible Molecular Spiral Arms in the Protoplanetary Disk of AB Aur

Cited by in corpus (14)

• Characterizing the dust content of disk substructures in TW Hya
• The Gould Belt Very Large Array Survey IV: The Taurus-Auriga complex
• An Ordered Magnetic Field in the Protoplanetary Disk of AB Aur Revealed by Mid-Infrared Polarimetry
• Imaging the photoevaporating disk and radio jet of GM Aur
• Probing the cold dust emission in the AB Aur disk: a dust trap in a decaying vortex?
• Binary-induced spiral arms inside the disc cavity of AB Aurigae
• An Inner Disk in the Large Gap of the Transition Disk SR 24S
• AB Aur, a Rosetta stone for studies of planet formation (II): H${}_2$S detection and sulfur budget
• Chemical composition of the circumstellar disk around AB Aurigae
• Detection of Near-Infrared Water Ice at the Surface of the (pre)Transitional Disk of AB Aur: Informing Icy Grain Abundance, Composition, and Size
• 3.3 cm JVLA observations of transitional disks: searching for centimeter pebbles
• Globules and pillars in Cygnus X III. Herschel and upGREAT/SOFIA far-infrared spectroscopy of the globule IRAS 20319+3958 inCygnus X
• Pebbles in an Embedded Protostellar Disk: The Case of CB26
• Gas accretion within the dust cavity in AB Aur