scholarly journals Brightness variations of young Sun-like stars from ground-based and space telescopes

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (S345) ◽  
pp. 380-382
Author(s):  
G. Zsidi ◽  
Á. Kóspál ◽  
P. Ábrahám ◽  
R. Szabó ◽  
B. Cseh ◽  
...  

AbstractYoung stellar objects often show photometric variability, which is well examined at optical wavelengths, but more and more infrared data are also available. The wavelength dependence of the variability carries information on the physical cause of the changing brightness. Here, we examine seven T Tauri-type stars known for their large amplitude variability selected from the Campaign 13 field of the Kepler K2 mission. We complemented the K2 light curves by multifilter optical monitoring observations made with the 90 cm Schmidt telescope of Konkoly Observatory, and by 3.6 and 4.5 μm infrared photometry with a 20 hours cadence using the Spitzer Space Telescope. We found that the wavelength dependence of the observed variability is not consistent with changing interstellar extinction. We suggest that the brightness changes are due to variable accretion, causing a variable illumination of the inner disk.

2019 ◽  
Vol 627 ◽  
pp. A135 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Bhardwaj ◽  
N. Panwar ◽  
G. J. Herczeg ◽  
W. P. Chen ◽  
H. P. Singh

Context. Pre-main-sequence variability characteristics can be used to probe the physical processes leading to the formation and initial evolution of both stars and planets. Aims. The photometric variability of pre-main-sequence stars is studied at optical wavelengths to explore star–disk interactions, accretion, spots, and other physical mechanisms associated with young stellar objects. Methods. We observed a field of 16′ × 16′ in the star-forming region Pelican Nebula (IC 5070) at BVRI wavelengths for 90 nights spread over one year in 2012−2013. More than 250 epochs in the VRI bands are used to identify and classify variables up to V ∼ 21 mag. Their physical association with the cluster IC 5070 is established based on the parallaxes and proper motions from the Gaia second data release (DR2). Multiwavelength photometric data are used to estimate physical parameters based on the isochrone fitting and spectral energy distributions. Results. We present a catalog of optical time-series photometry with periods, mean magnitudes, and classifications for 95 variable stars including 67 pre-main-sequence variables towards star-forming region IC 5070. The pre-main-sequence variables are further classified as candidate classical T Tauri and weak-line T Tauri stars based on their light curve variations and the locations on the color-color and color-magnitude diagrams using optical and infrared data together with Gaia DR2 astrometry. Classical T Tauri stars display variability amplitudes up to three times the maximum fluctuation in disk-free weak-line T Tauri stars, which show strong periodic variations. Short-term variability is missed in our photometry within single nights. Several classical T Tauri stars display long-lasting (≥10 days) single or multiple fading and brightening events of up to two magnitudes at optical wavelengths. The typical mass and age of the pre-main-sequence variables from the isochrone fitting and spectral energy distributions are estimated to be ≤1 M⊙ and ∼2 Myr, respectively. We do not find any correlation between the optical amplitudes or periods with the physical parameters (mass and age) of pre-main-sequence stars. Conclusions. The low-mass pre-main-sequence stars in the Pelican Nebula region display distinct variability and color trends and nearly 30% of the variables exhibit strong periodic signatures attributed to cold spot modulations. In the case of accretion bursts and extinction events, the average amplitudes are larger than one magnitude at optical wavelengths. These optical magnitude fluctuations are stable on a timescale of one year.


1987 ◽  
Vol 122 ◽  
pp. 103-104
Author(s):  
U. Finkenzeller ◽  
G. Basri

We discuss new spectroscopic material on 7 T Tauri stars of low to intermediate activity level which have envelopes of low optical thickness and small circumstellar/interstellar extinction. We show that difference plots between the target star and appropriate standards are a powerful tool to probe the stellar envelope structure. In our sample we find 1 object with a P Cyg type, 3 with inverse P Cyg type, and 3 with symmetrical Balmer line profiles. We conclude that the physical processes in these T Tauri stars do not differ qualitatively from the ones found in extremely active ones. In particular, the inverse P Cyg type profiles are not restricted to stars with very opaque envelopes and are possibly a much more common attribute of young stellar objects.


1997 ◽  
Vol 182 ◽  
pp. 391-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Hartmann

Outflows from low-mass young stellar objects are thought to draw upon the energy released by accretion onto T Tauri stars. I briefly summarize the evidence for this accretion and outline present estimates of mass accretion rates. Young stars show a very large range of accretion rates, and this has important implications for both mass ejection and for the structure of stellar magnetospheres which may truncate T Tauri disks.


Author(s):  
S. I. Ibryamov ◽  
E. H. Semkov ◽  
S. P. Peneva

AbstractResults from long-term multicolour optical photometric observations of the pre-main-sequence stars FHO 26, FHO 27, FHO 28, FHO 29, and V1929 Cyg collected during the period from 1997 June to 2014 December are presented. The objects are located in the dense molecular cloud L935, named ‘Gulf of Mexico’, in the field between the North America and Pelican nebulae. All stars from our study exhibit strong photometric variability in all optical passbands. Using our BVRI observations and data published by other authors, we tried to define the reasons for the observed brightness variations. The presented paper is a part of our long-term photometric study of the young stellar objects in the region of ‘Gulf of Mexico’.


2001 ◽  
Vol 200 ◽  
pp. 265-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris D. Koresko ◽  
Christoph Leinert

Infrared companions are young stellar objects with unusual properties gravitationally bound to more or less typical T Tauri stars. As such they promise to be the source of information on either a particular phase in the development of young stars or on a particular mode of development. We discuss the observed properties of infrared companions as well as attempts to explain their physical status with the aim to see how much of solid conclusion has been obtained so far.


2019 ◽  
Vol 630 ◽  
pp. A84 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. de Sá ◽  
J.-P. Chièze ◽  
C. Stehlé ◽  
I. Hubeny ◽  
T. Lanz ◽  
...  

Context. Material accreted onto classical T Tauri stars is expected to form a hot quasi-periodic plasma structure that radiates in X-rays. Simulations of this phenomenon only partly match observations. They all rely on a static model for the chromosphere and on the assumption that radiation and matter are decoupled. Aims. We explore the effects of a shock-heated chromosphere and of the coupling between radiation and hydrodynamics on the structure and dynamics of the accretion flow. Methods. We simulated accretion columns that fall onto a stellar chromosphere using the 1D ALE code AstroLabE. This code solves the hydrodynamics equations along with the first two moment equations for radiation transfer, with the help of a dedicated opacity table for the coupling between matter and radiation. We derive the total electron and ion densities from collisional-radiative model. Results. The chromospheric acoustic heating affects the duration of the cycle and the structure of the heated slab. In addition, the coupling between radiation and hydrodynamics leads to a heating of the accretion flow and of the chromosphere: the whole column is pushed up by the inflating chromosphere over several times the steady chromosphere thickness. These last two conclusions are in agreement with the computed monochromatic intensity. Acoustic heating and radiation coupling affect the amplitude and temporal variations of the net X-ray luminosity, which varies between 30 and 94% of the incoming mechanical energy flux, depending on which model is considered.


2004 ◽  
Vol 221 ◽  
pp. 425-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. G. Gibb ◽  
M. G. Hoare ◽  
L. G. Mundy ◽  
F. Wyrowski

We present subarcsecond observations at 2.7 and 1.4 mm of a sample of massive young stellar objects made with the BIMA millimetre array. For most sources the continuum emission on the smallest scales at 2.7 mm is dominated by free-free emission from the stellar wind or jet. Strong emission at 1.4 mm shows the presence of significant dust associated with Cep A and GL 490 but our resolution is not sufficient to resolve any structure. The 2.7-mm emission from GL 490 is resolved but it is not clear whether we are seeing a single circumstellar disk or a secondary companion, although near-infrared data support the disk hypothesis. Estimates of the dust mass yield values of ∼1–4 M⊙ within radii of 150 to 1000 AU.


2016 ◽  
Vol 828 (1) ◽  
pp. 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurora Y. Kesseli ◽  
Maya A. Petkova ◽  
Kenneth Wood ◽  
Barbara A. Whitney ◽  
L. A. Hillenbrand ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (S243) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude Bertout

AbstractAccretion and magnetic fields play major roles in several of the many models put forward to explain the properties of T Tauri stars since their discovery by Alfred Joy in the 1940s. Early investigators already recognized in the 1950s that a source of energy external to the star was needed to account for the emission properties of these stars in the optical range.The opening of new spectral windows from the infrared to the ultraviolet in the 1970s and 1980s showed that the excess emission of T Tauri stars and related objects extends into all wavelength domains, while evidence of outflow and/or infall in their circumstellar medium was accumulating.Although the disk hypothesis had been put forward by Merle Walker as early as 1972 to explain properties of YY Orionis stars and although Lynden-Bell and Pringle worked out the accretion disk model and applied it specifically to T Tauri stars in 1974, the prevailing model for young stellar objects until the mid-1980s assumed that they experienced extreme solar-type activity. It then took until the late 1980s before the indirect evidence of disks presented by several teams of researchers became so compelling that a paradigm shift occurred, leading to the current consensual picture.I briefly review the various models proposed for explaining the properties of young stellar objects, from their discovery to the direct observations of circumstellar disks that have so elegantly confirmed the nature of young stars. I will go on to discuss more modern issues concerning their accretion disk properties and conclude with some results obtained in a recent attempt to better understand the evolution of Taurus-Auriga young stellar objects.


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