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THE LIGHT CURVE OF THE WEAKLY ACCRETING T TAURI BINARY KH 15D FROM 2005-2010: INSIGHTS INTO THE NATURE OF ITS PROTOPLANETARY DISK
Open accessAbstract
Photometry of the unique pre-main-sequence binary system KH 15D is presented, spanning the years 2005–2010. This system has exhibited photometric variations and eclipses over the last ∼50 years that are attributed to the effect of a precessing circumbinary disk. Advancement of the occulting edge across the projection on the sky of the binary orbit has continued and the photospheres of both stars are now completely obscured at all times. The system has thus transitioned to a state in which it should be visible only by scattered light, and yet it continues to show a periodic variation on the orbital cycle with an amplitude exceeding 2 mag. This variation, which depends only on the binary phase and not on the height of either star above or below the occulting edge, has likely been present in the data since at least 1995. It can, by itself, account for the "shoulders" on the light curve prior to ingress and following egress, obviating to some degree the need for components of extant models such as a scattering halo around star A or forward scattering from a fuzzy disk edge. However, the spectroscopic evidence for some direct or forward scattered light from star A even when it was several stellar radii below the occulting edge shows that these components can probably not be fully removed, and raises the possibility that the occulting edge is currently more opaque than it was a decade ago, when the spectra were obtained. A plausible source for the variable scattering component is reflected light from the far side of a warped occulting disk. We have detected color changes in V − I of several tenths of a magnitude to both the blue and red that occur during times of minima. These may indicate the presence of a third source of light (faint star) within the system or a change in the reflectance properties of the disk as the portion being illuminated varies with the orbital motion of the stars. The data support a picture of the circumbinary disk as a geometrically thin, optically thick layer of perhaps millimeter- or centimeter-sized particles that has been sculpted by the binary stars and possibly other components into a decidedly nonplanar configuration. A simple (infinitely sharp) knife-edge model does a good job of accounting for all of the recent (2005–2010) occultation data when one allows for the scattered light component, the spottedness of star A, and variations from cycle to cycle in the location of the edge at the level of 0.1–0.2 stellar diameters.
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Citations
Cites
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Self-citationKH 15D: Gradual Occultation of a Pre-Main-Sequence BinaryPreprint
Winn, J. N., Holman, M. J., Johnson, J. A., et al. (2003) · Cited by 54
Self-citationKH 15D: A Spectroscopic Binary
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Self-citationThe Disappearing Act of KH 15D: Photometric Results from 1995 to 2004
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Self-citationSpectropolarimetry and Modeling of the Eclipsing T Tauri Star KH 15D
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Self-citationBIPOLAR JETS PRODUCED BY A SPECTROSCOPIC BINARY
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GAS ABSORPTION IN THE KH 15D SYSTEM: FURTHER EVIDENCE FOR DUST SETTLING IN THE CIRCUMBINARY DISK
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Self-citation0 Gas Absorption in the KH 15D System: Further Evidence for Dust Settling in the Circumbinary DiskPreprint
Lawler, S., Herbst, W., Redfield, S., et al. (2009) · Cited by 7
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Mamajek, E. E., Quillen, A. C., Pecaut, M. J., Moolekamp, F., Scott, E. L., Kenworthy, M. A., Cameron, A. C., & Parley, N. R. (2012) · The Astronomical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-6256/143/3/72 · Cited by 140
“The pre-MS binary system KH 15D has exhibited photometric variations and eclipses over the past half century that are attributed to the effect of a precessing circumbinary disk (Herbst et al. 2010).”
Metadata
- Authors
- Herbst, W., LeDuc, K., Hamilton, C. M., Winn, J. N., Ibrahimov, M., Mundt, R., & Johns-Krull, C. M.
- Affiliations
- Wesleyan University (US)
- Dickinson College (US)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Ulugh Beg Astronomical Institute (UZ)
- Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Herbst, William
- Venue
- The Astronomical Journal
- Publisher
- American Astronomical Society
- Published
- 2010-11-11
- Volume
- 140
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 2025-2035
- ISSN
- 0004-6256 (ISSN-L)
- 1538-3881
- OpenAlex
- W2015793473
- Semantic Scholar
- 394ce0d519d1b8f0c91c4aead261f85d686bade2
- Cited by
- 31
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 3.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The Astronomical Journal (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
- Keywords
- KH 15D, T Tauri stars, pre-main-sequence binaries, circumbinary disk, disk precession, scattered light, light curves, disk warping, forward scattering, protoplanetary disks, photometry, color variation, stellar spots
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