Near-Infrared Coronagraphic Observations of the T Tauri Binary System UY Aur
arXiv:0705.3940 · doi:10.1086/519737
Abstract
We present a near-infrared image of UY Aur, a 0.9" separated binary system, using the Coronagraphic Imager with Adaptive Optics on the Subaru Telescope. Thanks to adaptive optics, the spatial resolution of our image was ~0.1" in the full width at half maximum of the point spread function, the highest achieved. By comparison with previous measurements, we estimated that the orbital period is ~1640 yrs and the total mass of the binary is ~1.73 solar mass. The observed H-band magnitude of the secondary varies by as much as 1.3 mag within a decade, while that of the primary is rather stable. This inconstancy may arise from photospheric variability caused by an uneven accretion rate or from the rotation of the secondary. We detected a half-ring shaped circumbinary disk around the binary with a bright southwest part but a barely detectable northeast portion. The brightness ratio is ~57. Its inner radius and inclination are about 520 AU and 42, respectively. The disk is not uniform but has remarkable features, including a clumpy structure along the disk, circumstellar material inside the inner cavity, and an extended armlike structure. The circumstellar material inside the cavity probably corresponds to a clump or material accreting from the disk onto the binary. The armlike structure is a part of the disk, created by the accretion from the outer region of the disk or encounters with other stellar systems.
16 pages, 6 figures; accepted for publication in AJ
Cited by in corpus (9)
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- Geometrical and Physical Properties of Circumbinary Discs in Eccentric Stellar Binaries
- Circumbinary Ring, Circumstellar disks and accretion in the binary system UY Aurigae
- Structure of a protobinary system: an asymmetric circumbinary disk and spiral arms
- Reverse Rotation of the Accretion Disk in RW Aur A: Observations and a Physical Model
- Twin Jets and Close Binary Formation
- ISM Dust Grains and N-band Spectral Variability in the Spatially Resolved Subarcsecond Binary UY Aur
- [Fe II] emissions associated with the young interacting binary UY Aurige
- Variable Accretion Processes in the Young Binary-Star System UY Aur