Non coeval young multiple systems? On the pairing of protostars and T Tauri stars
Abstract
We summarize here the observed properties of ``infrared companions'' to T Tauri stars and argue that their observational properties are identical to those of Class I sources. They may therefore be embedded protostars in a much earlier evolutionary phase than T Tauri stars, in which case these multiple systems are significantly non-coeval as opposed to the majority of young binary systems. They would have formed through a different mechanism than core fragmentation. The only distinction between IRCs and Class I sources is that they lie within a few tens of AU of a T Tauri star, and so they cannot be at the center of a vast optically thick envelope as is believed to be the case for protostars. We discuss whether systems with an IRC are really candidates for non-coeval multiple systems.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0306014,
title = {Non coeval young multiple systems? On the pairing of protostars and T Tauri stars},
author = {Gaspard Duchene and Andrea Ghez and Caer McCabe},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0306014},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
8 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the conference proceedings of "Open Issues in Local Star Formation and Early Stellar Evolution", held in Ouro Preto (Brazil), April 5-10, 2003