An Asymmetric Eclipse Seen Towards the Pre-Main Sequence Binary System V928 Tau


Abstract in English

K2 observations of the weak-lined T Tauri binary V928 Tau A+B show the detection of a single, asymmetric eclipse which may be due to a previously unknown substellar companion eclipsing one component of the binary with an orbital period $>$ 66 days. Over an interval of about 9 hours, one component of the binary dims by around 60%, returning to its normal brightness about 5 hours later. From modeling of the eclipse shape we find evidence that the eclipsing companion may be surrounded by a disk or a vast ring system. The modeled disk has a radius of $0.9923,pm,0.0005,R_*$, with an inclination of $56.78,pm, 0.03^circ$, a tilt of $41.22,pm,0.05^circ$, an impact parameter of $-0.2506,pm,0.0002,R_*$ and an opacity of 1.00. The occulting disk must also move at a transverse velocity of $6.637,pm,0.002,R_*,mathrm{day}^{-1}$, which depending on whether it orbits V928 Tau A or B, corresponds to approximately 73.53 or 69.26 $mathrm{km s}^{-1}$. A search in ground based archival data reveals additional dimming events, some of which suggest periodicity, but no unambiguous period associated with the eclipse observed by K2. We present a new epoch of astrometry which is used to further refine the orbit of the binary, presenting a new lower bound of 67 years, and constraints on the possible orbital periods of the eclipsing companion. The binary is also separated by 18 ($sim$2250 au) from the lower mass CFHT-BD-Tau 7, which is likely associated with V928 Tau A+B. We also present new high dispersion optical spectroscopy that we use to characterize the unresolved stellar binary.

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