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R.L. Akeson (ISC/Caltech), E.L.N. Jensen (Swarthmore College)
Most stars are members of binary systems, yet binary formation is still poorly understood, and in particular, poorly constrained by observations. Here we present millimeter-wave continuum images of four wide (separations 210--800 AU) young stellar binary systems in Taurus. Most resolved binary observations at millimeter wavelengths to date have been of systems with anomalously large fluxes and have often been of triple or quadruple systems. Our sample (DK Tau, HK Tau, UX Tau, and V710 Tau) consists of more moderate-flux systems (35--75 mJy at \lambda = 1.3 mm) and may be more representative of typical young binary systems.
For all sources, the resolution of our observations is sufficient to determine the emission from each of the components. In three of the four systems, the primary star's disk has much stronger millimeter emission than the secondary. These observations allow us to estimate the circumstellar disk mass for each star; these masses are compared to predictions from binary formation theories and correlated with other properties such as stellar mass and accretion signatures.
This work was performed in part at the Interferometry Science Center, California Institute of Technology. ELNJ acknowledges the support of the National Science Foundation's Life in Extreme Environments program through grant AST 9996278.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.