Published August 1, 2020 | Version v1
Journal article

Is T Tauri North a "Classical" T Tauri Star?

  • 1. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 640 N. Aohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720 (United States)

Description

We present high-resolution H- and K-band spectroscopic observations of the archetypal T Tauri star T Tau North. Synthetic spectral modeling is used to derive the K-band temperature, surface gravity, magnetic field strength, and rotational velocity for this star. The K-band spectroscopic temperature measured is T K - b a n d = 3976 ± 90 K , which is 1000 K cooler than the temperature measured from optical observations. Our K-band temperature measurement for T Tau N is confirmed using equivalent-width line ratio versus temperature relations in the H band, from which a T H - b a n d = 4085 ± 155 K is derived. This optical versus IR temperature difference is interpreted as cool or hot spots, or both, covering a significant part of the surface of T Tau N. The gravity derived for T Tau N, l o g g = 3.45 ± 0.14, is lower than the gravity of nearly every other star in a sample of 24 classical T Tauri stars in Taurus. Combining these temperature and gravity results with magnetic stellar evolutionary models, we find the age of T Tau N to be less than 1 Myr old. These results suggest that T Tau N is in an earlier evolutionary stage than most classical T Tauri stars in Taurus, arguing that it is a protostar ejected from the embedded southern binary system shortly after its formation.

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab9e67

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Astrophysical Journal
Journal Volume
898
Journal Issue
2
Journal Page Range
[13 p.]
ISSN
0004-637X
CODEN
ASJOAB

INIS

Country of Publication
United Kingdom
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
52065531
Subject category
S79: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY;
Descriptors DEI
GRAVITATION; HOT SPOTS; MAGNETIC FIELDS; PROTOSTARS; RESOLUTION; SIMULATION; T TAURI STARS; TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT; VELOCITY
Descriptors DEC
BINARY STARS; ERUPTIVE VARIABLE STARS; STARS; VARIABLE STARS