Optical and Radio Observations of the T Tauri Binary KH 15D (V582 Mon): Stellar Properties, Disk Mass Limit and Discovery of a CO Outflow

Abstract

We present VRIJHK photometry of the KH 15D T Tauri binary system for the 2015/16 and 2016/17 observing seasons. For the first time in the modern (CCD) era we are seeing Star B fully emerge from behind the trailing edge of the precessing circumbinary ring during each apastron passage. We are, therefore, able to measure its luminosity and color. Decades of photometry on the system now allow us to infer the effective temperature, radius, mass and age of each binary component. We find our values to be in good agreement with previous studies, including archival photographic photometry from the era when both stars were fully visible, and they set the stage for a full model of the system that can be constructed once radial velocity measurements are available. We also present the first high sensitivity radio observations of the system, taken with ALMA and the SMA. The respective 2.0 and 0.88 mm observations provide an upper limit on the circumbinary (gas and dust) disk mass of 1.7 Jupiter masses and reveal an extended CO outflow which overlaps with the position, systemic velocity and orientation of the KH 15D system and is certainly associated with it. The low velocity, tight collimation, and extended nature of the emission suggest that the outflow is inclined nearly orthogonal to the line of sight, implying it is also orthogonal to the circumbinary ring. The position angle of the radio outflow also agrees precisely with the direction of polarization of the optical emission during the faint phase. A small offset between the optical image of the binary and the central line of the CO outflow remains as a puzzle and possible clue to the jet launching mechanism.

accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal

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Cited by in corpus (8)

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• Alignment of a circumbinary disc around an eccentric binary with application to KH 15D
• Two Candidate KH 15D-like Systems from the Zwicky Transient Facility
• Photometric and Spectroscopic monitoring of YSOs in nearby star forming regions. I. Eruptive YSOs
• A Radiative Heating Model for Chondrule and Chondrite Formation
• Double-peaked OI profile: a likely signature of the gaseous ring around KH 15D
• Excitation of post-AGB Star Binary Eccentricity by Massive Polar-Aligned Circumbinary Disks
• Radio emission from flaring stars and brown dwarfs