Accretion, Outflows, and Winds of Magnetized Stars

Many types of stars have strong magnetic fields that can dynamically influence the flow of circumstellar matter. In stars with accretion disks, the stellar magnetic field can truncate the inner disk and determine the paths that matter can take to flow onto the star. These paths are different in stars with different magnetospheres and periods of rotation. External field lines of the magnetosphere may inflate and produce favorable conditions for outflows from the disk-magnetosphere boundary. Outflows can be particularly strong in the propeller regime, wherein a star rotates more rapidly than the inner disk. Outflows may also form at the disk-magnetosphere boundary of slowly rotating stars, if the magnetosphere is compressed by the accreting matter. In isolated, strongly magnetized stars, the magnetic field can influence formation and/or propagation of stellar wind outflows. Winds from low-mass, solar-type stars may be either thermally or magnetically driven, while winds from massive, luminous O and B type stars are radiatively driven. In all of these cases, the magnetic field influences matter flow from the stars and determines many observational properties. In this chapter we review recent studies of accretion, outflows, and winds of magnetized stars with a focus on three main topics: (1) accretion onto magnetized stars; (2) outflows from the disk-magnetosphere boundary; and (3) winds from isolated massive magnetized stars. We show results obtained from global magnetohydrodynamic simulations and, in a number of cases compare global simulations with observations.Comment: 60 pages, 44 figure

Magnetically channeled accretion in T Tauri stars : a dynamical process

We review observational evidence and open issues related to the process of magnetospheric accretion in T Tauri stars. Emphasis is put on recent numerical simulations and observational results which suggest that the interaction between the stellar magnetosphere and the inner accretion disk is a highly time dependent process on timescales ranging from hours to months.Comment: To appear in Open Issues in Local Star Formation and Early Stellar Evolution, eds. J. Lepine, J. Gregorio-Hete

CUBES: a UV spectrograph for the future

In spite of the advent of extremely large telescopes in the UV/optical/NIR range, the current generation of 8-10m facilities is likely to remain competitive at ground-UV wavelengths for the foreseeable future. The Cassegrain U-Band Efficient Spectrograph (CUBES) has been designed to provide high-efficiency (>40%) observations in the near UV (305-400 nm requirement, 300-420 nm goal) at a spectral resolving power of R>20,000, although a lower-resolution, sky-limited mode of R ~ 7,000 is also planned. CUBES will offer new possibilities in many fields of astrophysics, providing access to key lines of stellar spectra: a tremendous diversity of iron-peak and heavy elements, lighter elements (in particular Beryllium) and light-element molecules (CO, CN, OH), as well as Balmer lines and the Balmer jump (particularly important for young stellar objects). The UV range is also critical in extragalactic studies: the circumgalactic medium of distant galaxies, the contribution of different types of sources to the cosmic UV background, the measurement of H2 and primordial Deuterium in a regime of relatively transparent intergalactic medium, and follow-up of explosive transients. The CUBES project completed a Phase A conceptual design in June 2021 and has now entered the Phase B dedicated to detailed design and construction. First science operations are planned for 2028. In this paper, we briefly describe the CUBES project development and goals, the main science cases, the instrument design and the project organization and management

Analysis of star-disk interaction in young stellar systems

We present preliminary results of the study of star-disk interaction in the classical T Tauri star V354 Mon, a member of the young stellar cluster NGC 2264. As part of an international campaign of observation of NGC 2264 organized from December 2011 to February 2012, high resolution photometric and spectroscopic data of this object were obtained simultaneously with the Chandra, CoRoT and Spitzer satellites, and ground-based telescopes, as CFHT and VLT at ESO. The optical and infrared light curves of V354 Mon show periodic brightness minima that vary in depth and width every rotational cycle. We found evidence that the Hα emission line profile changes according to the period of photometric variations, indicating that the same phenomenon causes both modulations. Such a correlation between emission line variability and light curve modulation was also identified in a previous observational campaign on the same object, where we concluded that material non-uniformly distributed in the inner part of the disk is the main cause of the photometric modulation. This assumption is supported by the fact that the system is seen at high inclination. It is believed that this distortion of the inner part of the disk results from the dynamical interaction between the stellar magnetosphere, inclined with respect to the rotation axis, and the circumstellar disk, as also observed in the classical T Tauri star AA Tau, and predicted by magnetohydrodynamic numerical simulations. A model of occultation by circumstellar material was applied to the photometric data in order to determine the parameters of the obscuring material during both observational campaigns, thus providing an investigation of its stability on a timescale of a few years

Accretion in low-mass members of the Orion Nebula Cluster with young transition disks

International audienceContext. Although the Orion Nebula Cluster is one of the most studied clusters in the solar neighborhood, the evolution of the very low-mass members (M* < 0.25 M⊙) has not been fully addressed due to their faintness.Aims. Our goal is to verify if some young and very low-mass objects in the Orion Nebula Cluster show evidence of ongoing accretion using broadband VLT/X-shooter spectra.Methods. For each target, we determined the corresponding stellar parameters, veiling, observed Balmer jump, and accretion rates. Additionally, we searched for the existence of circumstellar disks through available on-line photometry.Results. We detected accretion activity in three young stellar objects in the Orion Nebula Cluster, two of them being in the very low-mass range. We also detected the presence of young transition disks with ages between 1 and 3.5 Myr.Key words: stars: low-mass / stars: pre-main sequence / open clusters and associations: individual: Orion Nebula Cluste

The pre-main sequence spectroscopic binary AK Scorpii revisited

We present an analysis of 32 high-resolution echelle spectra of the pre-main sequence spectroscopic binary AK Sco obtained during 1998 and 2000, as well as a total of 72 photoelectric radial-velocity observations from the period 1986–1994. These data allow considerable improvement of the period and other orbital parameters of AK Sco. Our analysis also includes eight series of photometric observations in the uvby and Geneva seven-color systems from 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1997. No eclipses or other periodic variations are seen in the photometry, but the well-determined HIPPARCOS parallax allows us to constrain the orbital inclination of the system to the range 65°$< i < 70$°, leading to the following physical parameters for the two near-identical stars: $M =1.35 \pm 0.07$ $M_\odot$, $R =1.59 \pm 0.35$ $R_\odot$, and $v\sin{i} =18.5 \pm 1.0$ km s-1. 
Disk models have been fit to the spectral energy distribution of AK Sco from 350 nm to 1100 μm. The above stellar parameters permit a consistent solution with an inner rim temperature of 1250 K, instead of the usual 1500 K corresponding to the dust evaporation temperature. Dynamical effects due to tidal interaction of the binary system are supposed to be responsible for pushing the inner disk radius outwards. Combining simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic data sets allows us to compute the dust obscuration in front of each star at several points over the orbit. The results demonstrate the existence of substructure at scales of just a single stellar diameter, and also that one side of the orbit is more heavily obscured than the other.
The spectrum of AK Sco exhibits emission and absorption lines that show substantial variety and variability in shape. The accretion-related lines may show both outflow and infall signatures. The system displays variations at the binary orbital period in both the photospheric and accretion-related line intensities and equivalent widths, although with appreciable scatter. The periodic variations in the blue and red wing of Hβ are almost 180°  out of phase.
We find no evidence of enhanced accretion near the periastron passage in AK Sco as expected theoretically and observed previously in DQ Tau, a similarly young binary system with a mass ratio near unity and an eccentric orbit. The Hα  equivalent width displays rather smooth variations at the stellar period, peaking around phases 0.6–0.7, far away from periastron where theory expects the maximum accretion rate to occur