Near-Infrared Coronagraphic Observations of the T Tauri Binary System UY Aur

TL;DR

This study presents high-resolution near-infrared imaging of the UY Aur binary system, revealing a circumbinary disk with complex features, variable secondary brightness, and estimates of the system's orbital period and total mass.

Contribution

First near-infrared adaptive optics image of UY Aur with detailed disk features and updated orbital and mass estimates.

Findings

Detected a half-ring circumbinary disk with a bright southwest part.

Observed significant brightness variability in the secondary star.

Identified complex disk structures including clumps and an armlike feature.

Abstract

We present a near-infrared image of UY Aur, a 0.9" separated binary system, using the Coronagraphic Imager with Adaptive Optics on the Subaru Telescope. Thanks to adaptive optics, the spatial resolution of our image was ~0.1" in the full width at half maximum of the point spread function, the highest achieved. By comparison with previous measurements, we estimated that the orbital period is ~1640 yrs and the total mass of the binary is ~1.73 solar mass. The observed H-band magnitude of the secondary varies by as much as 1.3 mag within a decade, while that of the primary is rather stable. This inconstancy may arise from photospheric variability caused by an uneven accretion rate or from the rotation of the secondary. We detected a half-ring shaped circumbinary disk around the binary with a bright southwest part but a barely detectable northeast portion. The brightness ratio is ~57. Its inner radius and inclination are about 520 AU and 42, respectively. The disk is not uniform but has remarkable features, including a clumpy structure along the disk, circumstellar material inside the inner cavity, and an extended armlike structure. The circumstellar material inside the cavity probably corresponds to a clump or material accreting from the disk onto the binary. The armlike structure is a part of the disk, created by the accretion from the outer region of the disk or encounters with other stellar systems.