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Contemporaneous Broad-Band Photometry and H alpha Observations of T Tau Stars

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Publication Date
2018
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Frasca, A.
Alcalá, J.M.
Klutsch, A.
Guillout, P.
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Copernicus Foundation Polish Astronomy
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The study of contemporaneous variations of the continuum flux and emission lines is of great importance to understand the different astrophysical processes at work in T Tauri stars. In this paper we present the results of a simultaneous BV RI and Hα photometric monitoring, contemporaneous to medium-resolution spectroscopy of six T Tauri stars in the Taurus-Auriga star forming region. We have characterized the Hα photometric system using synthetic templates and the contemporaneous spectra of the targets. We show that we can achieve a precision corresponding to 2–3 Å in the Hα equivalent width, in typical observing conditions. The spectral analysis has allowed us to determine the basic stellar parameters and the values of quantities related to the accretion. In particular, we have measured a significant veiling only for the three targets with the strongest Hα emission (T Tau, FM Tau, and DG Tau). The broad-band photometric variations are found to be in the range 0.05–0.70 mag and are often paired to variations in the Hα intensity, which becomes stronger when the stellar continuum is weaker. In addition, we have mostly observed a redder V − I and a bluer B −V color as the stars become fainter. For most of the targets, the timescales of these variations seem to be longer than the rotation period. One exception is T Tau, for which the broad-band photometry varies with the rotation period. The most plausible interpretation of these photometric and Hα variations is that they are due to non-stationary mass accretion onto the stars, but rotational modulation can play a major role in some cases.
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© ACTA. We thank the anonymous referee for useful suggestions. We acknowledge the support from Regione Sicilia and the Italian Ministero dell’Istruzione, Università e Ricerca (MIUR). J.M.A. acknowledges financial support from the project PRIN-INAF 2016 The Cradle of Life - GENESIS-SKA (General Conditions in Early Planetary Systems for the rise of life with SKA). D.M. acknowledges financial support from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) from project AYA2016- 79425-C3-1-P. This research made use of SIMBAD and VIZIER databases, operated at the CDS, Strasbourg, France. This work has made use of data from the European Space Agency (ESA) mission Gaia (https://www.cosmos.esa.int/gaia), processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC, https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dpac/consortium). Funding for the DPAC has been provided by national institutions, in particular the institutions participating in the Gaia Multilateral Agreement.
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