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[16.14] Anomalously Low X-ray Emission from the Weak-lined T Tauri Binary KH 15D

W. Herbst, E. C. Moran (Wesleyan U.)

The eclipsing, weak-lined T Tauri star KH 15D has been (barely) detected as an X-ray source in a 95.6 ksec exposure from the Chandra X-ray Observatory archives. A total X-ray luminosity in the 0.5-8 kev band of 1.1 x 10²⁹ ergs/sec is derived, corresponding to L_x/L_bol = 5.5 x 10^-5. Comparison with a sample of stars of similar effective temperature in NGC 2264 and in the Orion Nebula Cluster shows that this is extremely low for a star of its mass and age. We argue that the anomalously low luminosity cannot be attributed to extinction along the line of sight but implies a real deficiency in X-ray production. Possible causes for this are considered in the context of a recently proposed eccentric binary model for KH 15D. Support from the NASA-Origins program for this work is gratefully acknowledged.

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 5
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.