Mapping the Shores of the Brown Dwarf Desert II: Multiple Star Formation in Taurus-Auriga

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution imaging to analyze multiple star formation in Taurus-Auriga, revealing the prevalence of binaries, their separation distributions, and implications for formation mechanisms, including the brown dwarf desert.

Contribution

It provides new data on binary frequency, separation, and mass ratios in Taurus-Auriga, highlighting the roles of different formation processes and the extent of the brown dwarf desert.

Findings

Approximately 75% of Taurus members are multiple systems.

Separation distribution is nearly log-flat for solar-type stars.

Mass ratios are uniformly distributed, including substellar companions.

Abstract

We have conducted a high-resolution imaging study of the Taurus-Auriga star-forming region in order to characterize the primordial outcome of multiple star formation and the extent of the brown dwarf desert. Our survey identified 16 new binary companions to primary stars with masses of 0.25-2.5 Msun, raising the total number of binary pairs (including components of high-order multiples) with separations of 3--5000 AU to 90. We find that ~2/3--3/4 of all Taurus members are multiple systems of two or more stars, while the other ~1/4--1/3 appear to have formed as single stars; the distribution of high-order multiplicity suggests that fragmentation into a wide binary has no impact on the subsequent probability that either component will fragment again. The separation distribution for solar-type stars (0.7--2.5 Msun) is nearly log-flat over separations of 3--5000 AU, but lower-mass stars (0.25--0.7 Msun) show a paucity of binary companions with separations of >200 AU. Across this full mass range, companion masses are well described with a linear-flat function; all system mass ratios (q=M_B/M_A) are equally probable, apparently including substellar companions. Our results are broadly consistent with the two expected modes of binary formation (freefall fragmentation on large scales and disk fragmentation on small scales), but the distributions provide some clues as to the epochs at which the companions are likely to form.