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Register a new userX-rays from T Tau: A test case for accreting T Tauri stars
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Authors
M. Guedel
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We test models for the generation of X-rays in accreting T Tauri stars (TTS), using X-ray data from the classical TTS T Tau. High-resolution spectroscopy from the Reflection Grating Spectrometers on XMM-Newton is used to infer electron densities, element abundances and the thermal structure of the X-ray source. We also discuss the ultraviolet light curve obtained by the Optical Monitor, and complementary ground-based photometry. A high-resolution image from Chandra constrains contributions from the two companions of T Tau N. The X-ray grating spectrum is rich in emission lines, but shows an unusual mixture of features from very hot (~30 MK) and very cool (1-3 MK) plasma, both emitted by similar amounts of emission measure. The cool plasma confirms the picture of a soft excess in the form of an enhanced OVII/OVIII Lya flux ratio, similar to that previously reported for other accreting TTS. Diagnostics from lines formed by this plasma indicate low electron densities (<~ 1E10 cm-3). The Ne/Fe abundance ratio is consistent with a trend in pre-main sequence stars in which this ratio depends on spectral type, but not on accretion. On the basis of line density diagnostics, we conclude that the density of the cool ``soft-excess plasma is orders of magnitude below that predicted for an accretion shock, assuming previously determined accretion rates of (3-6)E-8 M_sun/y. We argue that loading of magnetic field lines with infalling material suppresses the heating process in a part of the corona. We thus suggest that the X-ray production of T Tau is influenced by the accretion process although the X-rays may not form in the bulk of the accretion footpoints.
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We present an XMM-Newton observation of the classical T Tauri star BP Tau. In the XMM-Newton RGS spectrum the O {sc vii} triplet is clearly detected with a very weak forbidden line indicating high plasma densities and/or a high UV flux environment. At the same time concurrent UV data point to a small hot spot filling factor suggesting an accretion funnel shock as the site of the X-ray and UV emission. Together with the X-ray data on TW Hya these new observations suggest such funnels to be a general feature in classical T Tauri stars.
(abridged:) We study X-rays from jet-driving protostars and T Tau stars. We seek soft spectral components that may be due to shock emission, and shock-induced emission displaced from the stellar position. Two stellar samples are used, the first consisting of lightly absorbed T Tau stars with strong jets, the other containing protostars with disks seen nearly edge-on. The former sample was observed in the XMM-Newton Extended Survey of the Taurus Molecular Cloud (XEST), while Chandra archival data provided observations of the latter. We confirm the previously identified peculiar spectrum of DG Tau A and find similar phenomenology in GV Tau and DP Tau, suggesting a new class of X-ray spectra. These consist of a lightly absorbed, very soft component and a strongly absorbed, very hard component. The latter is flaring while little variability is detected in the former. The absorption of the harder component is about an order of magnitude higher than expected from the optical extinction assuming a standard gas-to-dust mass ratio. The flaring hard component represents active coronal emission. Its strong absorption is attributed to mass inflow from the accretion disk. The optical extinction is small because the dust has sublimated at larger distances. The weakly absorbed soft component cannot originate from the same location. Because the stars drive strong jets, we propose that the X-rays are generated in shocks in the jets. We find that for the three peculiar X-ray sources, the luminosity of the soft component roughly scales with the equivalent width of the [OI] 6300A line formed in the jets, and with the mass outflow rate. In the more strongly obscured protostars, the soft component is entirely absorbed, and only the hard, coronal component penetrates the envelope or the near-edge-on disk.
We report on accretion- and outflow-related X-rays from T Tauri stars, based on results from the XMM-Newton Extended Survey of the Taurus Molecular Cloud. X-rays potentially form in shocks of accretion streams near the stellar surface, although we hypothesize that direct interactions between the streams and magnetic coronae may occur as well. We report on the discovery of a soft excess in accreting T Tauri stars supporting these scenarios. We further discuss a new type of X-ray source in jet-driving T Tauri stars. It shows a strongly absorbed coronal component and a very soft, weakly absorbed component probably related to shocks in microjets. The excessive coronal absorption points to dust-depletion in the accretion streams.
Depending on whether a T Tauri star accretes material from its circumstellar disk or not, different X-ray emission properties can be found. The accretion shocks produce cool heating of the plasma, contributing to the soft X-ray emission from the star. Using X-ray data from the Chandra Orion Ultra-deep Project and accretion rates that were obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope/WFPC2 photometric measurements in the Orion Nebula Cluster, we studied the relation between the accretion processes and the X-ray emissions of a coherent sample of T Tauri sources in the region. We performed regression and correlation analyses of our sample of T Tauri stars between the X-ray parameters, stellar properties, and the accretion measurements. We find that a clear anti-correlation is present between the residual X-ray luminosity and the accretion rates in our samples in Orion that is consistent with that found on the XMM-Newton Extended Survey of the Taurus molecular cloud (XEST) study. We provide a catalog with X-ray luminosities (corrected from distance) and accretion measurements of an Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC) T Tauri stars sample. Although Orion and Taurus display strong differences in their properties (total gas and dust mass, star density, strong irradiation from massive stars), we find that a similar relation between the residual X-ray emission and accretion rate is present in the Taurus molecular cloud and in the accreting samples from the Orion Nebula Cluster. The spread in the data suggests dependencies of the accretion rates and the X-ray luminosities other than the stellar mass, but the similarity between Orion and Taurus hints at the environment not being one of them. The anti-correlation between the residual X-ray luminosity and mass accretion rate is inherent to the T Tauri stars in general, independent of their birthplace and environment, and intrinsic to early stellar evolution.
The pre-main sequence binary system V773 Tau A shows remarkable flaring activity around periastron passage. Here, we present the observation of such a flare at a wavelength of 3 mm (90 GHz) performed with the Plateau de Bure Interferometer. We examine different possible causes for the energy losses responsible for the e-folding time of 2.3 hours of that flare. We exclude synchrotron, collisional, and inverse Compton losses because they are not consistent with observational constraints, and we propose that the fading of the emission is due to the leakage of electrons themselves at each reflection between the two mirror points of the magnetic structure partially trapping them. The magnetic structure compatible with both our leakage model and previous observations is that of a helmet streamer that, as in the solar case, can occur at the top of the X-ray-emitting, stellar-sized coronal loops of one of the stars. The streamer may extend up to 20 R and interact with the corona of the other star at periastron passage, causing recurring flares. The inferred magnetic field strength at the two mirror points of the helmet streamer is in the range 0.12 - 125 G, and the corresponding Lorentz factor, gamma, of the partially trapped electrons is in the range 20 < gamma < 632. We therefore rule out that the emission could be of gyro-synchrotron nature: the derived high Lorentz factor proves that the nature of the emission at 90 GHz from this pre-main binary system is synchrotron radiation. Based on observations carried out with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer. IRAM is supported by INSU/CNRS (France), MPG (Germany), and IGN (Spain).
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