CSI 2264: Characterizing Accretion-Burst Dominated Light Curves for Young Stars in NGC 2264
arXiv:1401.6600 · doi:10.1088/0004-6256/147/4/83
Abstract
Based on more than four weeks of continuous high cadence photometric monitoring of several hundred members of the young cluster NGC 2264 with two space telescopes, NASA's Spitzer and the CNES CoRoT (Convection, Rotation, and planetary Transits), we provide high quality, multi-wavelength light curves for young stellar objects (YSOs) whose optical variability is dominated by short duration flux bursts, which we infer are due to enhanced mass accretion rates. These light curves show many brief -- several hour to one day -- brightenings at optical and near-infrared (IR) wavelengths with amplitudes generally in the range 5-50% of the quiescent value. Typically, a dozen or more of these bursts occur in a thirty day period. We demonstrate that stars exhibiting this type of variability have large ultraviolet (UV) excesses and dominate the portion of the u-g vs. g-r color-color diagram with the largest UV excesses. These stars also have large Halpha equivalent widths, and either centrally peaked, lumpy Halpha emission profiles or profiles with blue-shifted absorption dips associated with disk or stellar winds. Light curves of this type have been predicted for stars whose accretion is dominated by Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities at the boundary between their magnetosphere and inner circumstellar disk, or where magneto-rotational instabilities modulate the accretion rate from the inner disk. Amongst the stars with the largest UV excesses or largest Halpha equivalent widths, light curves with this type of variability greatly outnumber light curves with relatively smooth sinusoidal variations associated with long-lived hot spots. We provide quantitative statistics for the average duration and strength of the accretion bursts and for the fraction of the accretion luminosity associated with these bursts.
Accepted for publication in AJ. 39 pages; 6 tables; 25 figures, many of which are highly degraded to meet size limits. Please download the regular resolution version at http://web.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/amc/staufferetal2014.pdf
References in corpus (7)
- CSI 2264: Simultaneous optical and infrared light curves of young disk-bearing stars in NGC 2264 with CoRoT and Spitzer-- evidence for multiple origins of variability
- On the Diversity of the Taurus Transitional Disks: UX Tau A & Lk Ca 15
- Magnetospheric accretion-ejection processes in the classical T Tauri star AA
- Accretion to Magnetized Stars through the Rayleigh-Taylor Instability: Global Three-Dimensional Simulations
- Results of the ROTOR-program. I. The long-term photometric variability of classical T Tauri stars
- Photometric variability of the T Tauri star TW Hya on time scales of hours to years
- Radial and rotational velocities of young brown dwarfs and very low-mass stars in the Upper Scorpius OB association and the rho Ophiuchi cloud core
Cited by in corpus (94)
- CSI 2264: Simultaneous optical and infrared light curves of young disk-bearing stars in NGC 2264 with CoRoT and Spitzer-- evidence for multiple origins of variability
- Rotation in the Pleiades with K2: I. Data and First Results
- Rotation of Low-Mass Stars in Upper Scorpius and Rho Ophiuchus with K2
- Mapping accretion and its variability in the young open cluster NGC 2264: a study based on u-band photometry
- CSI 2264: Probing the inner disks of AA Tau-like systems in NGC 2264
- The SPOTS Models: A Grid of Theoretical Stellar Evolution Tracks and Isochrones For Testing The Effects of Starspots on Structure and Colors
- A Candidate Young Massive Planet in Orbit around the Classical T Tauri Star CI Tau
- Young Stellar Object Variability (YSOVAR): Long Timescale Variations in the Mid-Infrared
- CSI 2264: Investigating rotation and its connection with disk accretion in the young open cluster NGC 2264
- CSI 2264: Characterizing Young Stars in NGC 2264 with Short-Duration, Periodic Flux Dips in their Light Curves
- Rotation of Low-Mass Stars in Taurus with K2
- Accretion, Outflows, and Winds of Magnetized Stars
- Quantifying Variability of YSOs in the Mid-IR Over Six Years with NEOWISE
- The (w)hole survey: an unbiased sample study of transition disk candidates based on Spitzer catalogs
- UV variability and accretion dynamics in the young open cluster NGC 2264
- PENELLOPE: the ESO data legacy program to complement the Hubble UV Legacy Library of Young Stars (ULLYSES) I. Survey presentation and accretion properties of Orion OB1 and -Orionis
- A continuum of accretion burst behavior in young stars observed by K2
- Chemical tracers of episodic accretion in low-mass protostars
- Echography of young stars reveals their evolution
- A Simple Calculation in Service of Constraining the Rate of FU Orionis Outburst Events from Photometric Monitoring Surveys
- Peter Pan Disks: Long-lived Accretion Disks Around Young M Stars
- A Three-dimensional Simulation of a Magnetized Accretion Disk: Fast Funnel Accretion onto a Weakly Magnetized Star
- Multi-epoch Ultraviolet HST Observations of Accreting Low-mass Stars
- CSI 2264: Characterizing Young Stars in NGC 2264 with Stochastically Varying Light Curves
- CSI 2264: Accretion process in classical T Tauri stars in the young cluster NGC 2264
- Accretion and Magnetic Reconnection in the Classical T Tauri Binary DQ Tau
- YSOVAR: Mid-IR variability in the star forming region Lynds 1688
- Three-dimensional Simulations of Magnetospheric Accretion in a T Tauri Star: Accretion and Wind Structures Just Around Star
- Near-Infrared Variability in the Orion Nebula Cluster
- Long-term variability of T Tauri stars using WASP
- The Relationship between Mid-Infrared and Sub-Millimetre Variability of Deeply Embedded Protostars
- The Many-Faceted Light Curves of Young Disk-bearing Stars in Taurus as Seen by K2
- Using FUV to IR Variability to Probe the Star-Disk Connection in the Transitional Disk of GM Aur
- Photometric variability of TW~Hya from seconds to years as seen from space and the ground in 2013-2017
- M Dwarf rotation from the young clusters to the field. I. A Mass-Rotation Correlation at 10 Myr
- Extreme infrared variables from UKIDSS - II. an end-of-survey catalogue of eruptive YSOs and unusual stars
- Rotation Periods of Young Brown Dwarfs: K2 Survey in Upper Scorpius
- A multi-wavelength view of magnetic flaring from PMS stars
- Multicolor Variability of Young Stars in the Lagoon Nebula: Driving Causes and Intrinsic Timescales
- The magnetic obliquity of accreting T Tauri stars
- Rotation of Low-Mass Stars in Upper Centaurus Lupus and Lower Centaurus Crux with TESS
- Discovery of New Dipper Stars with K2: A Window into the Inner Disk Region of T Tauri Stars
- Spitzer Observations of Long Term Infrared Variability Among Young Stellar Objects in Chamaeleon I
- A "Rosetta Stone" for protoplanetary disks: The synergy of multi-wavelength observations
- Characterising the i-band variability of YSOs over six orders of magnitude in timescale
- YSOVAR: mid-infrared variability of young stellar objects and their disks in the cluster IRAS 20050+2720
- Star-disk interactions in multi-band photometric monitoring of the classical T Tauri star GI Tau
- The New EXor Outburst of ESO-H-alpha~99 observed by Gaia ATLAS and TESS
- The origin of the eccentricity of the hot Jupiter in CI Tau
- CSI 2264: Simultaneous optical and X-ray variability in pre-Main Sequence stars. I: Time resolved X-ray spectral analysis during optical dips and accretion bursts in stars with disks
- PTF 14jg: The Remarkable Outburst and Post-Burst Evolution of a Previously Anonymous Galactic Star
- Stable and unstable accretion in the classical T Tauri stars IM Lup and RU Lup as observed by MOST
- Connecting X-ray and Infrared Variability among Young Stellar Objects: Ruling out potential sources of disk fluctuations
- A Model for (Quasi-)Periodic Multi-wavelength Photometric Variability in Young Stellar Objects
- Inferring possible magnetic field strength of accreting inflows in EXor-type objects from scaled laboratory experiments
- YSOVAR: Mid-infrared Variability Among YSOs in the Star Formation Region GGD 12-15
- PENELLOPE III. The peculiar accretion variability of XX Cha and its impact on the observed spread of accretion rates
- The dipper population of Taurus seen with K2
- Synthetic Light Curves of Accretion Variability in T Tauri Stars
- Star-disk interaction in the T Tauri star V2129 Oph: An evolving accretion-ejection structure
- A survey for variable young stars with small telescopes: First results from HOYS-CAPS
- The Inner Disk and Accretion Flow of the Close Binary DQ Tau
- A constraint on the formation timescale of the young open cluster NGC 2264: Lithium abundance of pre-main sequence stars
- Near-Infrared Time-Series Photometry in the Field of Cygnus OB2 Association I - Rotational Scenario For Candidate Members
- Variability in young very low mass stars: Two surprises from spectrophotometric monitoring
- V899 Mon: a peculiar eruptive young star close to the end of its outburst
- On the incidence of episodic accretion in Class I YSOs from VVV
- Mon-735: A new low-mass pre-main sequence eclipsing binary in NGC 2264
- CoRoT 223992193: Investigating the variability in a low-mass, pre-main sequence eclipsing binary with evidence of a circumbinary disk
- Photo-reverberation Mapping of a Protoplanetary Accretion Disk around a T Tauri Star
- Accretion and outflow in the proplyd-like objects near Cygnus OB2
- Accretion variability of the multiple T Tauri system VW Cha
- Time Dependent Models of Magnetospheric Accretion onto Young Stars
- Young stellar objects, accretion disks, and their variability with Rubin Observatory LSST
- The Rotation-Disk Connection in Young Brown Dwarfs: Strong Evidence for Early Rotational Braking
- Periodic Accretion Instabilities in the Protostar L1634 IRS 7
- Photometric and Spectroscopic monitoring of YSOs in nearby star forming regions. I. Eruptive YSOs
- Spot modelling of periodic weak-line T Tauri stars observed by CoRoT in NGC 2264
- A Low-Mass Pre-Main-Sequence Eclipsing Binary in Lower Centaurus Crux Discovered with TESS
- Ejection processes in the young open cluster NGC 2264. A study of the [OI]λ6300 emission line
- A survey for variable young stars with small telescopes: IV -- Rotation Periods of YSOs in IC5070
- Variability of Young Stellar Objects in the Perseus Molecular Cloud
- A study of accretion and disk diagnostics in the NGC 2264 cluster
- CSI2264: Simultaneous optical and X-ray variability in the pre-main sequence stars of NGC2264. II: Photometric variability, magnetic activity, and rotation in classIII objects and stars with transition disks
- Testing the Potential for Radio Variability in Disks around T Tauri Stars with Observations and Chemical Modeling
- Near-infrared time-series photometry in the field of Cygnus OB2 association II. Mapping the variability of candidate members
- 1D accretion discs around eccentric planets: observable near-infrared variability
- Variability of young stellar objects: accretion, disks, outflows and magnetic activity
- LAMOST YSOs. I. Spectroscopically identifying and characterizing M-type young stellar objects
- Variability and Jet Activity in the YSO MHO~3252~Y3 in Serpens South
- On The Unusual Variability of 2MASS J06195260-2903592: A Long-Lived Disk around a Young Ultracool Dwarf
- A Gaia view on the star formation in the Monoceros OB1 and R1 associations
- Exploring Young Stellar Variability with Gaia DR3 light curves
- Interpretation of optical and IR light curves for transitional disk candidates in NGC 2264 using the extincted stellar radiation and the emission of optically thin dust inside the hole