William J. Fischer

Probing T Tauri Accretion and Outflow with 1 Micron Spectroscopy

In a high-dispersion 1 μm survey of 39 classical T Tauri stars (CTTSs) veiling is detected in 80% of the stars, and He I λ10830 and Pγ line emission in 97%. On average, the 1 μm veiling exceeds the level expected from previously identified sources of excess emission, suggesting the presence of an additional contributor to accretion luminosity in the star-disk interface region. Strengths of both lines correlate with veiling, and at Pγ there is a systematic progression in profile morphology with veiling. He I λ10830 has an unprecedented sensitivity to inner winds, showing blueshifted absorption below the continuum in 71% of the CTTSs, compared to 0% at Pγ. This line is also sensitive to magnetospheric accretion flows, with redshifted absorption below the continuum found in 47% of the CTTSs, compared to 24% at Pγ. The blueshifted absorption at He I λ10830 shows considerable diversity in its breadth and penetration depth into the continuum, indicating that a range of inner wind conditions exist in accreting stars. We interpret the broadest and deepest blue absorptions as formed from scattering of the 1 μm continuum by outflowing gas whose full acceleration region envelopes the star, suggesting radial outflow from the star. In contrast, narrow blue absorption with a range of radial velocities more likely arises via scattering of the 1 μm continuum by a wind emerging from the inner disk. Both stellar and disk winds are accretion powered, since neither is seen in nonaccreting WTTSs and among the CTTSs helium strength correlates with veiling.

THE SPITZER INFRARED SPECTROGRAPH SURVEY OF T TAURI STARS IN TAURUS

We present 161 Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) spectra of T Tauri stars and young brown dwarfs in the Taurus star-forming region. All of the targets were selected based on their infrared excess and are therefore surrounded by protoplanetary disks; they form the complete sample of all available IRS spectra of T Tauri stars with infrared excesses in Taurus. We also present the IRS spectra of seven Class 0/I objects in Taurus to complete the sample of available IRS spectra of protostars in Taurus. We use spectral indices that are not significantly affected by extinction to distinguish between envelope- and disk-dominated objects. Together with data from the literature, we construct spectral energy distributions for all objects in our sample. With spectral indices derived from the IRS spectra we infer disk properties such as dust settling and the presence of inner disk holes and gaps. We find a transitional disk frequency, which is based on objects with unusually large 13–31 μm spectral indices indicative of a wall surrounding an inner disk hole, of about 3%, and a frequency of about 20% for objects with unusually large 10 μm features, which could indicate disk gaps. The shape and strength of the 10 μm silicate emission feature suggests weaker 10 μm emission and more processed dust for very low mass objects and brown dwarfs (spectral types M6–M9). These objects also display weaker infrared excess emission from their disks, but do not appear to have more settled disks than their higher-mass counterparts. We find no difference for the spectral indices and properties of the dust between single and multiple systems.

Modeling T tauri winds from He I λ10830 profiles

The high opacity of He I λ10830 makes it an exceptionally sensitive probe of the inner wind geometry of accreting T Tauri stars. In this line, blueshifted absorption below the continuum results from simple scattering of stellar photons, a situation that is readily modeled without definite knowledge of the physical conditions and recourse to multilevel radiative transfer. We present theoretical line profiles for scattering in two possible wind geometries, a disk wind and a wind emerging radially from the star, and compare them to observed He I λ10830 profiles from a survey of classical T Tauri stars. The comparison indicates that subcontinuum blueshifted absorption is characteristic of disk winds in ~30% of the stars and of stellar winds in ~40%. We further conclude that for many stars the emission profile of helium likely arises in stellar winds, increasing the fraction of accreting stars inferred to have accretion-powered stellar winds to ~60%. Stars with the highest disk accretion rates are more likely to have stellar wind than disk wind signatures and less likely to have redshifted absorption from magnetospheric funnel flows. This suggests the possibility that when accretion rates are high, disks can extend closer to the star, magnetospheric accretion zones can be reduced in size, and conditions can arise that favor radially outflowing stellar winds.

He I λ10830 as a Probe of Winds in Accreting Young Stars

He I λ10830 profiles acquired with Kecks NIRSPEC for six young low-mass stars with high disk accretion rates (AS 353A, DG Tau, DL Tau, DR Tau, HL Tau, and SVS 13) provide new insight into accretion-driven winds. In four of the stars, the profiles have the signature of resonance scattering, and they possess a deep and broad blueshifted absorption that penetrates more than 50% into the 1 μm continuum over a continuous range of velocities from near the stellar rest velocity to the terminal velocity of the wind, unlike inner wind signatures seen in other spectral features. This deep and broad absorption provides the first observational tracer of the acceleration region of the inner wind and suggests that this acceleration region is situated such that it occults a significant portion of the stellar disk. The remaining two stars also have blue absorption extending below the continuum, although here the profiles are dominated by emission, requiring an additional source of helium excitation beyond resonant scattering. This is likely the same process that produces the emission profiles seen at He I 5876 A.

CHARACTERIZING THE IYJ EXCESS CONTINUUM EMISSION IN T TAURI STARS

We present the first characterization of the excess continuum emission of accreting T Tauri stars between optical and near-infrared wavelengths. With nearly simultaneous spectra from 0.48 to 2.4 μm acquired with HIRES and NIRSPEC on Keck and SpeX on the Infrared Telescope Facility, we find significant excess continuum emission throughout this region, including the I, Y, and J bands, which are usually thought to diagnose primarily photospheric emission. The IYJ excess correlates with the excess in the V band, attributed to accretion shocks in the photosphere, and the excess in the K band, attributed to dust in the inner disk near the dust sublimation radius, but it is too large to be an extension of the excess from these sources. The spectrum of the excess emission is broad and featureless, suggestive of blackbody radiation with a temperature between 2200 and 5000 K. The luminosity of the IYJ excess is comparable to the accretion luminosity inferred from modeling the blue and ultraviolet excess emission and may require reassessment of disk accretion rates. The source of the IYJ excess is unclear. In stars of low accretion rate, the size of the emitting region is consistent with cooler material surrounding small hot accretion spots in the photosphere. However, for stars with high accretion rates, the projected area is comparable to or exceeds that of the stellar surface. We suggest that at least some of the IYJ excess emission arises in the dust-free gas inside the dust sublimation radius in the disk.

Redshifted absorption at He I λ10830 as a probe of the accretion geometry of T Tauri stars

We probe the geometry of magnetospheric accretion in classical T Tauri stars (CTTSs) by modeling red absorption at He I λ10830 via scattering of the stellar and veiling continua. Under the assumptions that the accretion flow is an azimuthally symmetric dipole and helium is sufficiently optically thick that all incident 1 μm radiation is scattered, we illustrate the sensitivity of He I λ10830 red absorption to both the size of the magnetosphere and the filling factor of the hot accretion shock. We compare model profiles to those observed in 21 CTTSs with subcontinuum redshifted absorption at He I λ10830 and find that about half of the stars have red absorption and 1 μm veilings that are consistent with dipole flows of moderate width with accretion shock filling factors matching the size of the magnetospheric footpoints. However, the remaining 50% of the profiles, with a combination of broad, deep absorption and low 1 μm veiling, require very wide flows where magnetic footpoints are distributed over 10%-20% of the stellar surface but accretion shock filling factors are 0.5V_(esc) that flows near the star with less curvature than a dipole trajectory seem to be required.

PTF10nvg: AN OUTBURSTING CLASS I PROTOSTAR IN THE PELICAN/NORTH AMERICAN NEBULA

During a synoptic survey of the North American Nebula region, the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) detected an optical outburst (dubbed PTF10nvg) associated with the previously unstudied flat or rising spectrum infrared source IRAS 20496+4354. The PTF R-band light curve reveals that PTF10nvg brightened by more than 5 mag during the current outburst, rising to a peak magnitude of R_(PTF) ≈ 13.5 in 2010 September. Follow-up observations indicate that PTF10nvg has undergone a similar ~5 mag brightening in the K band and possesses a rich emission-line spectrum, including numerous lines commonly assumed to trace mass accretion and outflows. Many of these lines are blueshifted by ~175 km s^(–1) from the North American Nebulas rest velocity, suggesting that PTF10nvg is driving an outflow. Optical spectra of PTF10nvg show several TiO/VO band heads fully in emission, indicating the presence of an unusual amount of dense (>10^(10) cm^(–3)), warm (1500-4000 K) circumstellar material. Near-infrared spectra of PTF10nvg appear quite similar to a spectrum of McNeils Nebula/V1647 Ori, a young star which has undergone several brightenings in recent decades, and 06297+1021W, a Class I protostar with a similarly reached near-infrared emission line spectrum. While further monitoring is required to fully understand this event, we conclude that the brightening of PTF10nvg is indicative of enhanced accretion and outflow in this Class-I-type protostellar object, similar to the behavior of V1647 Ori in 2004-2005.

Origins of the H, He i and Ca ii line emission in classical T Tauri stars

We perform local excitation calculations to obtain line opacities and emissivity ratios, and compare them with observed properties of H, He I ,O I ,C aII and Na I lines to determine the requisite conditions of density, temperature and photon ionization rate. We find that ultraviolet photoionization is the most probable excitation mechanism for generating the He Iλ10830 opacities that produce all the associated absorption features. We also calculate the specific line flux at an observed velocity of vobs =± 150 km s −1 for both radial wind and infall models. All the model results, together with observed correlations between absorption and emission features and between narrow and broad emission components, are used to deduce the origins of the strong H, He I and Ca II broad line emission. We conclude that the first two arise primarily in a radial outflow that is highly clumpy. The bulk of the wind volume is filled by gas at a density ∼10 9 cm −3 and optically thick to He Iλ10830 and Hα, but optically thin to He Iλ5876, Paγ and the Ca II infrared triplet. The optically thick He Iλ5876 emission occurs mostly in regions of density ≥10 11 cm −3 and temperature ≥1.5 × 10 4 K, while the optically thick Hα and Paγ emission occurs mostly in regions of density around 10 11 cm −3 and temperature between 8750 and 1.25 × 10 4 K. In producing the observed line fluxes at a given vobs, the covering factor of these emission clumps is sufficiently small to not incur significant absorption of the stellar and veiling continua in either He I or H lines. The strong Ca II broad line emission likely arises in both the magnetospheric accretion flow and the disc boundary layer where the gases dissipate part of their rotational energies before infalling along magnetic field lines. The needed density and temperature are ∼10 12 cm −3 and ≤7500 K, respectively.

HIGHLY VARIABLE EXTINCTION AND ACCRETION IN THE JET-DRIVING CLASS I-TYPE YOUNG STAR PTF 10nvg (V2492 Cyg, IRAS 20496+4354)

We report extensive new photometry and spectroscopy of the highly variable young stellar object PTF 10nvg (also known as IRAS 20496+4354 and V2492 Cyg), including optical and near-infrared time-series data as well as mid-infrared and millimeter data. Following the previously reported 2010 rise to R_(PTF)≾13^m.5 and subsequent fade, during 2011 and 2012 the source underwent additional episodes of brightening, followed by several magnitude dimming events including prolonged faint states at R_(PTF)≳20^m. The observed high-amplitude variations are largely consistent with extinction changes (ΔA_V up to 30 mag) having a ~220 day quasi-periodic signal. However, photometry measured when the source was near maximum brightness in mid-2010 as well as in late-2012 does not phase well to this period. Spectral evolution includes not only changes in the spectral slope but also correlated variation in the prominence of TiO/VO/CO bands and atomic line emission, as well as anti-correlated variation in forbidden line emission which, along with H_2, dominates optical and infrared spectra at faint epochs. Notably, night-to-night variations in several forbidden doublet strengths and ratios are observed. High-dispersion spectra were obtained in a variety of photometric states and reveal time-variable line profiles. Neutral and singly ionized atomic species are likely formed in an accretion flow and/or impact while the origin of zero-velocity atomic Li I λ6707 in emission is unknown. Forbidden lines, including several rare species, exhibit blueshifted emission profiles and likely arise from an outflow/jet. Several of these lines are also seen spatially offset from the continuum source position, presumably in a shocked region of an extended jet. Blueshifted absorption components of the Na I D doublet, K I λλ7665, 7669 doublet, and the O I 7774 triplet, as well as blueshifted absorption components seen against the broad Hα and Ca II triplet emission lines, similarly are formed in the outflow. CARMA maps resolve on larger scales a spatially extended outflow in millimeter-wavelength CO. We attribute the recently observed photometric and spectroscopic behavior to rotating circumstellar disk material located at separation ɑ ≈ 0.7(M_*/M_☉)^(1/3) AU from the continuum source, causing the semi-periodic dimming. Occultation of the central star as well as the bright inner disk and the accretion/outflow zones renders shocked gas in the inner part of the jet amenable to observation at the faint epochs. We discuss PTF 10nvg as a source exhibiting both accretion-driven (perhaps analogous to V1647 Ori) and extinction-driven (perhaps analogous to UX Ori or GM Cep) high-amplitude variability phenomena.

Multiwavelength Observations of V2775 Ori, an Outbursting Protostar in L 1641: Exploring the Edge of the FU Orionis Regime

Individual outbursting young stars are important laboratories for studying the physics of episodic accretion and the extent to which this phenomenon can explain the luminosity distribution of protostars. We present new and archival data for V2775 Ori (HOPS 223), a protostar in the L 1641 region of the Orion molecular clouds that was discovered by Caratti o Garatti et al. to have recently undergone an order-of-magnitude increase in luminosity. Our near-infrared spectra of the source have strong blueshifted He I λ10830 absorption, strong H_(2)O and CO absorption, and no H I emission, all typical of FU Orionis sources. With data from the Infrared Telescope Facility, the Two Micron All Sky Survey, the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Herschel, and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment that span from 1 to 70 μm pre-outburst and from 1 to 870 μm post-outburst, we estimate that the outburst began between 2005 April and 2007 March. We also model the pre- and post-outburst spectral energy distributions of the source, finding it to be in the late stages of accreting its envelope with a disk-to-star accretion rate that increased from ~2 × 10^(–6) M_☉ yr^(–1) to ~10^(–5) M_☉ yr^(–1) during the outburst. The post-outburst luminosity at the epoch of the FU Orionis-like near-IR spectra is 28 L_☉, making V2775 Ori the least luminous documented FU Orionis outburster with a protostellar envelope. The existence of low-luminosity outbursts supports the notion that a range of episiodic accretion phenomena can partially explain the observed spread in protostellar luminosities.