My body leaves; my core can stay,
Where I shall breathe another way.
The route of south I always linger.
My arms have arms; my ring no finger.
What am I?
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tree?
My body leaves; my core can stay,
A double meaning: The body is leafs/leaves, and when they go away for the winter, the trunk/core remains
Where I shall breathe another way.
With no leaves, a tree can still exchange oxygen and CO2, just in a more dormant state
The route of south I always linger.
Route/root is another double meaning. [Via OP: roots stretch downward, and are harder to move the deeper they go]
My arms have arms; my ring no finger.
The arms are branches, which can have more branches stemming from them. Tree trunks can have rings, but do not have fingers.
Partial answer.
Are you:
A planet or galaxy?
My rough thinking:
When a big planet explodes, it leaves its core behind. Also, planets have rings... A galaxy have arms :) I have no idea how the other hints apply to this.
Are you a
Black hole ?
Because :
A black hole is the core of a former star, whose most of its matter was expulsed through space via a supernova. Black holes are often surrounded by rings of hot gas. No idea for the arms or the south hints though.