2M1155-79 (= T Cha B): A Low-mass, Wide-separation Companion to the Nearby, "Old" T Tauri Star T Cha

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of a low-mass, wide-separation companion to the nearby T Tauri star T Cha, providing insights into star and planet formation processes in such systems.

Contribution

The study identifies and characterizes a new low-mass companion to T Cha at a large separation, using multi-wavelength observations and proper motion analysis.

Findings

T Cha B is a weak-lined T Tauri star of spectral type M3.

The companion is at a projected separation of ~38 kAU from T Cha.

Wide-separation companions may influence planet formation around solar-mass stars.

Abstract

The early-K star T Cha, a member of the relatively nearby (D ~ 100 pc) epsilon Cha Association, is a relatively "old" (age ~7 Myr) T Tauri star that is still sporadically accreting from an orbiting disk whose inner regions are evidently now being cleared by a close, substellar companion. We report the identification, via analysis of proper motions, serendipitous X-ray imaging spectroscopy, and followup optical spectroscopy, of a new member of the epsilon Cha Association that is very likely a low-mass companion to T Cha at a projected separation of ~38 kAU. The combined X-ray and optical spectroscopy data indicate that the companion, T Cha B (= 2M1155-79), is a weak-lined T Tauri star (wTTS) of spectral type M3 and age ~<10 Myr. The serendipitous X-ray (XMM-Newton) observation of T Cha B, which targeted T Cha, also yields serendipitous detections of two background wTTS in the Chamaeleon cloud complex, including one newly discovered, low-mass member of the Cha cloud pre-MS population. T Cha becomes the third prominent example of a nearby, "old" yet still actively accreting, K-type pre-MS star/disk system (the others being TW Hya and V4046 Sgr) to feature a low-mass companion at very large (12-40 kAU) separation, suggesting that such wide-separation companions may affect the conditions and timescales for planet formation around solar-mass stars.