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K.E. Haisch Jr., T.P. Greene (NASA ARC), M. Barsony, M. Ressler (NASA JPL)
We have initiated a new near-to-mid-infrared multiplicity survey of ~ 100 protostellar objects in six nearby (d < 200 pc) dark clouds. Recent sub-arcsecond surveys of young stars have almost exclusively focussed on pre-main-sequence T Tauri stars and have virtually ignored younger, protostellar systems. Thus, we know very little about the multiplicity of self-embedded young stars. Our survey has several purposes: 1) to study the binary fractions and separations of protostars; 2) to diagnose the luminosities and evolutionary states of their components; and 3) use our near-IR photometry (in conjunction with existing IRTF and Keck spectra) to place protostars in H-R diagrams to diagnose their stellar properties. In this contribution, we present our initial results for 18 protostellar objects in the Rho Ophiuchus and Serpens dark clouds.
K.E.H. gratefully acknowledges support from a National Research Council Research Associateship.