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.

arXiv commentaccepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal

References in corpus (41)

• PARSEC: stellar tracks and isochrones with the PAdova and TRieste Stellar Evolution Code
• Intrinsic Colors, Temperatures, and Bolometric Corrections of Pre-Main Sequence Stars
• A new generation of PARSEC-COLIBRI stellar isochrones including the TP-AGB phase
• Circumstellar Dust Disks in Taurus-Auriga: The Submillimeter Perspective
• Tertiary companions to close spectroscopic binaries
• Nominal values for selected solar and planetary quantities: IAU 2015 Resolution B3
• 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
• The Distance to NGC 2264
• The Circumbinary Ring of KH 15D
• Older and Colder: The impact of starspots on pre-main sequence stellar evolution
• KH 15D: Gradual Occultation of a Pre-Main-Sequence Binary
• Eclipses by a Circumstellar Dust Feature in the Pre-Main Sequence Star KH15D
• The Orbit and Occultations of KH 15D
• Fine Structure in the Circumstellar Environment of a Young, Solar-like Star: the Unique Eclipses of KH 15D
• Locating the Trailing Edge of the Circumbinary Ring in the KH 15D System
• New Pleiades Eclipsing Binaries and a Hyades Transiting System Identified by K2
• On the metallicity of open clusters I. Photometry
• The Initial Mass Function and Young Brown Dwarf Candidates in NGC 2264. IV. The Initial Mass Function and Star Formation History
• CoRoT 223992193: A new, low-mass, pre-main sequence eclipsing binary with evidence of a circumbinary disk
• Accretion and Magnetic Reconnection in the Classical T Tauri Binary DQ Tau
• KH 15D: A Spectroscopic Binary
• The History of the Mysterious Eclipses of KH 15D: Asiago Observatory, 1967-1982
• The Disappearing Act of KH 15D: Photometric Results from 1995 to 2004
• Natural Coronagraphic Observations of the Eclipsing T Tauri System KH 15D: Evidence for Accretion and Bipolar Outflow in a WTTS
• Spectropolarimetry and Modeling of the Eclipsing T Tauri Star KH 15D
• The Light Curve of the Weakly-Accreting T Tauri Binary KH 15D from 2005-10: Insights into the Nature of its Protoplanetary Disk
• Bipolar jets produced by a spectroscopic binary
• Spectroscopy of Molecular Hydrogen Emission from KH 15D
• H${}_2$ Emission Nebulosity Associated with KH 15D
• The History of the Mysterious Eclipses of KH 15D II. Asiago, Kiso, Kitt Peak, Mt. Wilson, Palomar, Tautenburg and Rozhen Observatories, 1954-97
• Near-Infrared Photometric Monitoring of a Pre-Main-Sequence Object KH 15D
• Complex Variability of the H$\alpha$ Emission Line Profile of the T Tauri Binary System KH 15D: The Influence of Orbital Phase, Occultation by the Circumbinary Disk, and Accretion Phenomenae
• The Color-Magnitude Diagram of NGC 2264
• Multi-Wavelength Photometry of the T Tauri Binary V582 Mon (KH 15D): A New Epoch of Occultations
• CoRoT 223992193: Investigating the variability in a low-mass, pre-main sequence eclipsing binary with evidence of a circumbinary disk
• Deep VLA Images of the HH 124 IRS Radio Cluster and its Surroundings and a New Determination of the Distance to NGC 2264
• Blue and IR Light Curves of the Mysterious Pre-Main Sequence Star V582 Mon (KH 15D) from 1955 to 1970
• Extending the Model of KH 15D: Estimating the Effects of Forward Scattering and Curvature of the Occulting Ring Edge
• Seeing Through the Ring: Near-Infrared Photometry of V582 Mon (KH 15D)
• X-ray Emission from the Weak-lined T Tauri Binary System KH 15D
• Untangling the Near-IR Spectral Features in the Protoplanetary Environment of KH 15D

Cited by in corpus (13)

• The Degree of Alignment Between Circumbinary Disks and Their Binary Hosts
• Determining the recurrence timescale of long-lasting YSO outbursts
• Polar alignment of a protoplanetary disc around an eccentric binary III: Effect of disc mass
• Alignment of a circumbinary disc around an eccentric binary with application to KH 15D
• Constraining the Circumbinary Disk Tilt in the KH 15D system
• The origin of R CrA variability: A complex triple system hosting a disk
• 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
• The nature of a primary jet within a circumbinary disc outflow in a young stellar system
• Radio emission from flaring stars and brown dwarfs