IR Spectroscopy of Young Star Binaries

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Session 40 -- Young Stars and T Tauri Stars
Display presentation, Thursday, January 13, 9:30-6:45, Salons I/II Room (Crystal Gateway)

[40.04] IR Spectroscopy of Young Star Binaries

M.Simon,L.Prato (SUNY-SB), F.Hamann (UCSD), J.Carr (OSU)

We have obtained high resolution IR spectra of stars in pre-ms binary systems in order to study their evolutionary status and disk activity. Regarded as an unresolved object, the VV CrA binary (sep. $1.9''$) is classified as a classic emission line T Tauri star. We find that the T Tauri activity is unequal in the two components. Br$\gamma$ emission is prominent in the southern component, but is much weaker, if present at all, in the northern. The DoAr24E binary (sep $2.1''$) in Ophiuchus is characterized as a weak emission line T Tauri star, spectral type K0, by observations that do not distinguish the two components. We find that the primary shows the 2.1 $\mu$m photospheric NaI and Si lines typical of a late spectral type star, but that they are partially filled in by veiling, presumably the result of disk emission. The companion, at the S/N of its spectrum, does not show these features. If this is the result of veiling by extreme disk activity, then we would expect Brackett-gamma emission, but none was detected in the companion. Our observations show that, at least in these relatively wide binaries, the TT and WT characteristics are not equally shared by both system components. The spectra were obtained using the new CSHELL spectrometer of the NASA-IRTF.

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