573 research outputs found
Accretion in Brown Dwarfs: an Infrared View
This paper presents a study of the accretion properties of 19 very low mass
objects (Mstar .01-0.1 Msun) in the regions Chamaeleon I and rho-Oph For 8
objects we obtained high resolution Halpha profiles and determined mass
accretion rate Macc and accretion luminosity Lacc. Pabeta is detected in
emission in 7 of the 10 rho-Oph objects, but only in one in Cha I. Using
objects for which we have both a determination of Lacc from Halpha and a Pabeta
detection, we show that the correlation between the Pabeta luminosity and
luminosity Lacc, found by Muzerolle et al. (1998) for T Tauri stars in Taurus,
extends to objects with mass approx 0.03 Msun; L(Pab) can be used to measure
Lacc also in the substellar regime. The results were less conclusive for
Brgamma, which was detected only in 2 objects, neither of which had an Halpha
estimate of Macc. Using the relation between L(Pab) and Lacc we determined the
accretion rate for all the objects in our sample (including those with no
Halpha spectrum), more than doubling the number of substellar objects with
known Macc. When plotted as a function of the mass of the central object
together with data from the literature, our results confirm the trend of lower
Macc for lower Mstar, although with a large spread. Some of the spread is
probably due to an age effect; our very young objects in rho-Oph have on
average an accretion rate at least one order of magnitude higher than objects
of similar mass in older regions. As a side product, we found that the width of
Halpha measured at 10% peak intensity is not only a qualitative indicator of
accretion, but can be used to obtain a quantitative estimate of Macc over a
large mass range, from T Tauri stars to brown dwarfs. Finally, we found that
some of our objects show evidence of mass-loss.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, A&A in pres
Modeling the Halpha line emission around classical T Tauri stars using magnetospheric accretion and disk wind models
Spectral observations of classical T Tauri stars show a wide range of line
profiles, many of which reveal signs of matter inflow and outflow. Halpha is
the most commonly observed line profile due to its intensity, and it is highly
dependent on the characteristics of the surrounding environment of these stars.
Our aim is to analyze how the Halpha line profile is affected by the various
parameters of our model which contains both the magnetospheric and disk wind
contributions to the Halpha flux. We used a dipolar axisymmetric stellar
magnetic field to model the stellar magnetosphere and a modified Blandford &
Payne model was used in our disk wind region. A three-level atom with continuum
was used to calculate the required Hydrogen level populations. We use the
Sobolev approximation and a ray-by-ray method to calculate the integrated line
profile. Through an extensive study of the model parameter space, we have
investigated the contribution of many of the model parameters on the calculated
line profiles. Our results show that the Halpha line is strongly dependent on
the densities and temperatures inside the magnetosphere and the disk wind
region. The bulk of the flux comes, most of the time, from the magnetospheric
component for standard classical T Tauri stars parameters, but the disk wind
contribution becomes more important as the mass accretion rate, the
temperatures and densities inside the disk wind increase. We have also found
that most of the disk wind contribution to the Halpha line is emitted at the
innermost region of the disk wind. Models that take into consideration both
inflow and outflow of matter are a necessity to fully understand and describe
classical T Tauri stars.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysics. Revised version with English correction
Accretion in rho-Ophiuchi brown dwarfs: infrared hydrogen line ratios
Mass accretion rate determinations are fundamental for an understanding of
the evolution of pre-main sequence star circumstellar disks. Magnetospheric
accretion models are used to derive values of the mass accretion rates in
objects of very different properties, from brown dwarfs to intermediate-mass
stars; we test the validity of these models in the brown dwarf regime, where
the stellar mass and luminosity, as well as the mass accretion rate, are much
lower than in T Tauri stars. We have measured simultaneously two infrared
hydrogen lines, Pab and Brg, in a sample of 16 objects in the star-forming
region rho-Oph. The sample inc ludes 7 very low mass objects and brown dwarfs
and 9 T Tauri stars. Brown dwarfs where both lines are detected have a ratio
Pab/Brg of ~2. Larger values, >=3.5, are only found among the T Tauri stars.
The low line ratios in brown dwarfs indicate that the lines cannot originate in
the column of gas accreting from the disk onto the star along the magnetic
field lines, and we suggest that they form instead in the shocked photosphere,
heated to temperatures of ~3500 K. If so, in analogy to veiling estimates in T
Tauri stars, the hydrogen infrared line fluxes may provide a reliable measure
of the accretion rate in brown dwarfs.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, accepted by A&
Depletion of molecular gas by an accretion outburst in a protoplanetary disk
We investigate new and archival 3-5 m high resolution ( km
s) spectroscopy of molecular gas in the inner disk of the young
solar-mass star EX Lupi, taken during and after the strong accretion outburst
of 2008. The data were obtained using the CRIRES spectrometer at the ESO Very
Large Telescope in 2008 and 2014. In 2008, emission lines from CO, HO,
and OH were detected with broad profiles tracing gas near and within the
corotation radius (0.02-0.3 AU). In 2014, the spectra display marked
differences. The CO lines, while still detected, are much weaker, and the
HO and OH lines have disappeared altogether. At 3 m a veiled stellar
photospheric spectrum is observed. Our analysis finds that the molecular gas
mass in the inner disk has decreased by an order of magnitude since the
outburst, matching a similar decrease in the accretion rate onto the star. We
discuss these findings in the context of a rapid depletion of material
accumulated beyond the disk corotation radius during quiescent periods, as
proposed by models of episodic accretion in EXor type young stars.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journal Letter
HD 101088, An Accreting 14 AU Binary in Lower Centaurus Crux With Very Little Circumstellar Dust
We present high resolution (R=55,000) optical spectra obtained with MIKE on
the 6.5 m Magellan Clay Telescope as well as Spitzer MIPS photometry and IRS
low resolution (R~60) spectroscopy of the close (14 AU separation) binary, HD
101088, a member of the ~12 Myr old southern region of the Lower Centaurus Crux
(LCC) subgroup of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association. We find that the
primary and/or secondary is accreting from a tenuous circumprimary and/or
circumsecondary disk despite the apparent lack of a massive circumbinary disk.
We estimate a lower limit to the accretion rate of > 1x10^-9 solar masses per
year, which our multiple observation epochs show varies over a timescale of
months. The upper limit on the 70 micron flux allows us to place an upper limit
on the mass of dust grains smaller than several microns present in a
circumbinary disk of 0.16 moon masses. We conclude that the classification of
disks into either protoplanetary or debris disks based on fractional infrared
luminosity alone may be misleading.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, ApJ accepte
Modeling Mid-Infrared Variability of Circumstellar Disks with Non-Axisymmetric Structure
Recent mid-infrared observations of young stellar objects have found
significant variations possibly indicative of changes in the structure of the
circumstellar disk. Previous models of this variability have been restricted to
axisymmetric perturbations in the disk. We consider simple models of a
non-axisymmetric variation in the inner disk, such as a warp or a spiral wave.
We find that the precession of these non-axisymmetric structures produce
negligible flux variations but a change in the height of these structures can
lead to significant changes in the mid-infrared flux. Applying these models to
observations of the young stellar object LRLL 31 suggests that the observed
variability could be explained by a warped inner disk with variable scale
height. This suggests that some of the variability observed in young stellar
objects could be explained by non-axisymmetric disturbances in the inner disk
and this variability would be easily observable in future studies.Comment: 9 pages plus 16 figures and 1 appendix. Accepted to Ap
TW Hya: Spectral Variability, X-Rays, and Accretion Diagnostics
The nearest accreting T Tauri star, TW Hya was observed with spectroscopic
and photometric measurements simultaneous with a long se gmented exposure using
the CHANDRA satellite. Contemporaneous optical photometry from WASP-S indicates
a 4.74 day period was present during this time. Absence of a similar
periodicity in the H-alpha flux and the total X-ray flux points to a different
source of photometric variations. The H-alpha emission line appears
intrinsically broad and symmetric, and both the profile and its variability
suggest an origin in the post-shock cooling region. An accretion event,
signaled by soft X-rays, is traced spectroscopically for the first time through
the optical emission line profiles. After the accretion event, downflowing
turbulent material observed in the H-alpha and H-beta lines is followed by He I
(5876A) broadening. Optical veiling increases with a delay of about 2 hours
after the X-ray accretion event. The response of the stellar coronal emission
to an increase in the veiling follows about 2.4 hours later, giving direct
evidence that the stellar corona is heated in part by accretion. Subsequently,
the stellar wind becomes re-established. We suggest a model that incorporates
this sequential series of events: an accretion shock, a cooling downflow in a
supersonically turbulent region, followed by photospheric and later, coronal
heating. This model naturally explains the presence of broad optical and
ultraviolet lines, and affects the mass accretion rates determined from
emission line profiles.Comment: 61 pages; 22 figures; to appear in The Astrophysical Journa
Measuring tiny mass accretion rates onto young brown dwarfs
We present low-resolution Keck I/LRIS spectra spanning from 3200-9000 A of
nine young brown dwarfs and three low-mass stars in the TW Hya Association and
in Upper Sco. The optical spectral types of the brown dwarfs range from
M5.5-M8.75, though two have near-IR spectral types of early L-dwarfs. We report
new accretion rates derived from excess Balmer continuum emission for the
low-mass stars TW Hya and Hen 3-600A and the brown dwarfs 2MASS
J12073347-3932540, UScoCTIO 128, SSSPM J1102-3431, UScoJ160606.29-233513.3,
DENIS-P J160603.9-205644, and Oph J162225-240515B, and upper limits on
accretion for the low-mass star Hen 3-600B and the brown dwarfs UScoCTIO 112,
Oph J162225-240515A, and USco J160723.82-221102.0. For the six brown dwarfs in
our sample that are faintest at short wavelengths, the accretion luminosity or
upper limit is measurable only when the image is binned over large wavelength
intervals. This method extends our sensivity to accretion rate down to ~1e-13
solar masses/year for brown dwarfs. Since the ability to measure an accretion
rate from excess Balmer continuum emission depends on the contrast between
excess continuum emission and the underlying photosphere, for objects with
earlier spectral types the upper limit on accretion rate is much higher.
Absolute uncertainties in our accretion rate measurements of ~3-5 include
uncertainty in accretion models, brown dwarf masses, and distance. The
accretion rate of 2e-12 solar masses/year onto 2MASS J12073347-3932540 is
within 15% of two previous measurements, despite large changes in the H-alpha
flux.Comment: Accepted by ApJ. 23 pages, 5 figures, 3 table
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