Eclipses by a Circumstellar Dust Feature in the Pre-Main Sequence Star KH15D
Abstract
Photometry and spectroscopy of the unique pre-main sequence eclipsing object KH15D in the young cluster NGC 2264 are presented. The orbital period is 48.34 days and both the length (~16 d) and depth (~3 mag) of the eclipse have increased with time. A brightening near the time of central eclipse is confirmed in the recent data but at a much smaller amplitude than was originally seen. Spectra taken when the star is bright show that the primary is a weak T Tauri star of spectral type K7. During eclipse there is no detectable change in spectral type or reddening, indicating that the obscuration is caused by rather large dust grains and/or macroscopic objects. Evidently the star is eclipsed by an extended feature in its circumstellar disk orbiting with a semi-major axis of ~0.2 AU. Continued photometric monitoring should allow us to probe the disk structure with a spatial resolution of ~3 x 10^6 km or better.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0105412,
title = {Eclipses by a Circumstellar Dust Feature in the Pre-Main Sequence Star KH15D},
author = {Catrina M. Hamilton and William Herbst and Candice Shih and Anthony J. Ferro},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0105412},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
16 pages, 3 figures, To be published in Astrophysical Journal Letters