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Session 105 - Pre-Main Sequence Binaries and Disks.
Display session, Thursday, January 18
North Banquet Hall, Convention Center
Although the standard model for star formation is based on single stars, we now know that most T Tauri stars are in multiple star systems with the majority having separations less than 100 AU, the size typically inferred for a circumstellar disk. To study the effects of ``close'' companions (10-50 AU) on the circumstellar environment, we have obtained HST Planetary Camera images of a several T Tauri binary stars. These high resolution observations, in conjunction with near-infrared speckle imaging measurements, have revealed a particularly surprising result: contrary to the standard model for T Tauri stars, several of the secondary stars have an ultra-violet but no infrared excess. We interpret this as a signature of diskless accretion, a phenomenon previously unobserved in T Tauri stars. Furthermore, this result suggests that planetary formation is unlikely to occur around these close secondary stars.
