Title
A Multiwavelength, Multiepoch Monitoring Campaign of Accretion Variability in T Tauri Stars from the ODYSSEUS Survey. I. HST Far-UV and Near-UV Spectra
Date Issued
2024
Author(s)
Wendeborn, John
Espaillat, Catherine C.
Lopez, Sophia
Thanathibodee, Thanawuth
Robinson, Connor E.
Pittman, Caeley V.
Calvet, Nuria
Flors, Nicole
Walter, Fredrick M.
Kóspál, Ágnes
Grankin, Konstantin N.
Mendigutía, Ignacio
Günther, Hans Moritz
Eislöffel, Jochen
Guo, Zhen
France, Kevin
Fischer, William J.
Ábrahám, Péter
Herczeg, Gregory J.
DOI
10.3847/1538-4357/ad4a62
10.48550/arXiv.2405.21038
Abstract
The classical T Tauri star (CTTS) stage is a critical phase of the star and planet formation process. In an effort to better understand the mass accretion processes, which can dictate future stellar evolution and planet formation, a multiepoch, multiwavelength photometric and spectroscopic monitoring campaign of four CTTSs (TW Hya, RU Lup, BP Tau, and GM Aur) was carried out in 2021 and 2022/2023 as part of the Outflows and Disks around Young Stars: Synergies for the Exploration of ULLYSES Spectra program. Here we focus on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) UV spectra obtained by the HST Director's Discretionary Time UV Legacy Library of Young Stars as Essential Standards (ULLYSES) program. Using accretion shock modeling, we find that all targets exhibit accretion variability, varying from short increases in accretion rate by up to a factor of 3 within 48 hr to longer decreases in accretion rate by a factor of 2.5 over the course of 1 yr. This is despite the generally consistent accretion morphology within each target. Additionally, we test empirical relationships between accretion rate and UV luminosity and find stark differences, showing that these relationships should not be used to estimate the accretion rate for an individual target. Our work reinforces that future multiepoch and simultaneous multiwavelength studies are critical in our understanding of the accretion process in low-mass star formation.
Subjects
Star formation
Stellar accretion
Ultraviolet spectroscopy
T Tauri stars
1569
1578
2284
1681
Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics