Near-Infrared Photometric Survey of Herbig Ae/Be Candidate Stars

TL;DR

This study presents near-infrared photometry of 35 Herbig Ae/Be candidate stars, identifying new binary candidates, an extended protoplanetary nebula, and noting potential variability, thereby enhancing understanding of these young stellar objects.

Contribution

The paper provides the first high-resolution near-infrared imaging survey of Herbig Ae/Be candidates, discovering new binary systems and extended structures, and comparing photometry with past data to identify variability.

Findings

Identified five new binary candidates with separations <~2.5".

Detected one extended protoplanetary nebula.

Observed significant photometric differences suggesting variability.

Abstract

We report near-infrared photometric measurements of 35 Herbig Ae/Be candidate stars obtained with direct imaging and aperture photometry. Observations were made through the broadband J, H, and K' filters, with each source imaged in at least one of the wavebands. We achieved subarcsecond angular resolution for all observations, providing us with the opportunity to search for close binary candidates and extended structure. The imaging revealed five newly identified binary candidates and one previously resolved T Tauri binary among the target sources with separations of <~2.5". Separate photometry is provided for each of the binary candidate stars. We detect one extended source that has been identified as a protoplanetary nebula. Comparing our magnitudes to past measurements yields significant differences for some sources, possibly indicating photometric variability. H-band finding charts for all of our sources are provided to aid follow-up high-resolution imaging.