NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2013B-0335
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2013B-0335 |
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PI: James Muzerolle, Space Telescope Science Institute, muzerol@stsci.edu
Address: 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
CoI: Tracy Beck, Space Telescope Science Institute
CoI: Zoltan Balog, MPIA
CoI: Kevin Flaherty, University of Arizona (Astronomy)
CoI: Elise Furlan, Caltech IPAC
CoI: Robert Gutermuth, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Title: Accretion and Outflow in a Periodically-Varying Protostar
Abstract:
We have discovered extraordinary infrared variability in the protostar LRLL
54361, a member of the IC 348 star forming region. The near- and mid-infrared
continuum flux of this source increases periodically by an order of magnitude
every 25 days. We propose to obtain multi-epoch K band spectroscopy with
Gemini/NIFS to test connections between the photometric variability and the
accretion and outflow activity of this object. Multi-epoch measurements of
the Brackett gamma and CO overtone emission lines, probes of the inner disk
and protostellar accretion flow, will allow us to test the hypothesis that
the repeating outbursts are indicative of a dynamically-modulated accretion
flow onto a central binary system. Simultaneously, spatially-resolved
molecular hydrogen emission will enable constraints on the jet and outflow
geometry of the system. In combination with our Spitzer and HST measurements,
the proposed observations will provide new insights into the nature of the
dynamic environment of young star/disk systems at the earliest stages of
their evolution.
National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, Arizona 85726, Phone: (520) 318-8000, Fax: (520) 318-8360
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2013B-0335 |
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