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Tracy L. Beck, M. Simon (SUNY Stony Brook), A. M. Ghez, L. Prato (UCLA), R. R. Howell (U. of Wyoming)
To study the Infrared Companion (IRC) phenomenon, we have monitored the near infrared and 3.1 micron ice-band flux of the T Tau triple system and the Haro 6-10 binary. We find flux variations in the IRCs on timescales of a few weeks. >From 12/98 to 11/99 the flux of the Haro 6-10 IRC tripled at wavelengths between 2.2 and 3.8 microns, becoming brighter than the primary in the K band.
To test if the observed IRC variability is consistent with the addition or removal of obscuring material along the line of sight, we also made angularly resolved observations of the 3.1 micron ice-band feature. We present the first resolved ice-band Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) of T Tau North and South, confirming that the strongest ice-band absorption lies toward the heavily obscured IRC, T Tau S. Our results show evidence for variability in 3.1 micron absorption toward T Tau S and Haro 6-10 N. In both cases, the observed decrease in ice-band optical depth is significant at the 2 sigma level and is associated with an increase in near infrared flux.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: tracy@hilo.ess.sunysb.edu