A Multiwavelength, Multiepoch Monitoring Campaign of Accretion Variability in T Tauri Stars from the ODYSSEUS Survey. III. Optical Spectra
- Author(s)
- John Wendeborn, Catherine C. Espaillat, Thanawuth Thanathibodee, Connor E. Robinson, Caeley V. Pittman, Nuria Calvet, James Muzerolle, Fredrick M. Walter, Jochen Eisloffel, Eleonora Fiorellino, Carlo F. Manara, Agnes Kospal, Peter Abraham, Rik Claes, Elisabetta Rigliaco, Laura Venuti, Justyn Campbell-White, Pauline McGinnis, Manuele Gangi, Karina Mauco, Filipe Gameiro, Antonio Frasca, Zhen Guo
- Abstract
Classical T Tauri Stars (CTTSs) are highly variable stars that possess gas- and dust-rich disks from which planets form. Much of their variability is driven by mass accretion from the surrounding disk, a process that is still not entirely understood. A multiepoch optical spectral monitoring campaign of four CTTSs (TW Hya, RU Lup, BP Tau, and GM Aur) was conducted along with contemporaneous Hubble Space Telescope (HST) UV spectra and ground-based photometry in an effort to determine accretion characteristics and gauge variability in this sample. Using an accretion flow model, we find that the magnetospheric truncation radius varies between 2.5 and 5 R ⋆ across all of our observations. There is also significant variability in all emission lines studied, particularly Hα, Hβ, and Hγ. Using previously established relationships between line luminosity and accretion, we find that, on average, most lines reproduce accretion rates consistent with accretion shock modeling of HST spectra to within 0.5 dex. Looking at individual contemporaneous observations, however, these relationships are less accurate, suggesting that variability trends differ from the trends of the population and that these empirical relationships should be used with caution in studies of variability.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Astrophysics
- External organisation(s)
- Boston University, Amherst College, University of Michigan, Space Telescope Science Institute, State University of New York, Stony Brook, Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, INAF Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte , European Southern Observatory (Germany), Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Osservatorio Astronomico, SETI Institute, University of Dundee, Space Science Data Center (SSDC) - Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI), INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Universidade do Porto, INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, Universidad de Valparaíso
- Journal
- Astrophysical Journal
- Volume
- 972
- No. of pages
- 30
- ISSN
- 0004-637X
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad65ed
- Publication date
- 09-2024
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 103003 Astronomy, 103004 Astrophysics
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space and Planetary Science
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/3130af4f-3c80-416f-a187-cade98029039