Variable accretion as a mechanism for brightness variations in T Tauri S

• Verfasst von: Boekel, Roy van [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Juhász, A. [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Henning, Th [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Köhler, Rainer [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Ratzka, Th [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Herbst, T. [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Bouwman, J. [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Kley, W. [VerfasserIn]
• Titel: Variable accretion as a mechanism for brightness variations in T Tauri S
• Verf.angabe: R. van Boekel, A. Juhász, Th. Henning, R. Köhler, Th. Ratzka, T. Herbst, J. Bouwman, and W. Kley
• E-Jahr: 2010
• Jahr: 26 July 2010
• Umfang: 15 S.
• Fussnoten: Gesehen am 29.08.2023
• Titel Quelle: Enthalten in: Astronomy and astrophysics
• Ort Quelle: Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 1969
• Jahr Quelle: 2010
• Band/Heft Quelle: 517(2010) vom: Juli, Artikel-ID A16, Seite 1-15
• ISSN Quelle: 1432-0746
• DOI: doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200913840
• Datenträger: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: eng
• K10plus-PPN: 1858163234

Abstract

The southern “infrared companion” of T Tau is known to show strong photometric variations of several magnitudes on timescales of years, as well as more modest 1 mag variations on timescales as short as one week. The physical mechanism driving these variations is debated, intrinsic luminosity variations due to a variable accretion rate were initially proposed, but later challenged in favor of apparent fluctuations due to time-variable foreground extinction. We seek to investigate the nature of the observed photometric variability. Based on simple geometric arguments and basic physics laws, a minimum variability timescale can be derived for which variable extinction is a viable mechanism. Because this timescale increases rapidly with wavelength, observations at long wavelengths provide the strongest constraints.