English

A sub-AU outwardly truncated accretion disk around a classical T Tauri star

Astrophysics 2009-11-13 v2

Abstract

We present the Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) spectrum of SR20, a 5--10 AU binary T Tauri system in the ρ\rho Ophiuchi star forming region. The spectrum has features consistent with the presence of a disk; however, the continuum slope is steeper than the λ4/3\lambda^{-4/3} slope of an infinite geometrically thin, optically thick disk, indicating that the disk is outwardly truncated. Comparison with photometry from the literature shows a large increase in the mid-infrared flux from 1993 to 1996. We model the spectral energy distribution and IRS spectrum with a wall + optically thick irradiated disk, yielding an outer radius of 0.39+0.030.01_{+0.03}^{-0.01} AU, much smaller than predicted by models of binary orbits. Using a two temperature χ2\chi^2 minimization model to fit the dust composition of the IRS spectrum, we find the disk has experienced significant grain growth: its spectrum is well-fit using opacities of grains larger than 1 μ\mum. We conclude that the system experienced a significant gravitational perturbation in the 1990s.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0801.0402,
  title  = {A sub-AU outwardly truncated accretion disk around a classical T Tauri star},
  author = {M. K. McClure and W. J. Forrest and B. A. Sargent and Dan M. Watson and E. Furlan and P. Manoj and K. L. Luhman and N. Calvet and C. Espaillat and P. D'Alessio and L. W. Hartmann and C. Tayrien and S. T. Harrold},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0801.0402},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

4 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, accepted to ApJ Letters

R2 v1 2026-06-21T09:59:01.639Z