RX J0513.1+0851 AND RX J0539.9+0956: Two Young, Rapidly Rotating, Spectroscopic Binary Stars

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution infrared spectroscopy to characterize two young, rapidly rotating spectroscopic binary stars, revealing their orbital parameters, mass ratios, and closer distances than previously thought.

Contribution

First infrared spectroscopic analysis of these systems as double-lined binaries, providing detailed orbital and stellar parameters.

Findings

Primary stars are fast rotators with velocities of 60 km/s and 80 km/s.

Orbital periods are approximately 4 days and 1117 days.

Distances to the binaries are estimated at 220 pc and 90 pc, closer than previous estimates.

Abstract

RX J0513.1+0851 and RX J0539.9+0956 were previously identified as young, low-mass, single-lined spectroscopic binary systems and classified as weak-lined T Tauri stars at visible wavelengths. Here we present radial velocities, spectral types, vsini values, and flux ratios for the components in these systems resulting from two-dimensional cross-correlation analysis. These results are based on high-resolution, near-infrared spectroscopy taken with the Keck II telescope to provide a first characterization of these systems as double-lined rather than single-lined. It applies the power of infrared spectroscopy to the detection of cool secondaries; the flux scales as a less steep function of mass in the infrared than in the visible, thus enabling an identification of low-mass secondaries. We found that the RX J0513.1+0851 and RX J0539.9+0956 primary stars are fast rotators, 60 km/s and 80 km/s respectively; this introduces extra difficulty in the detection of the secondary component as a result of the quite broad absorption lines. To date, these are the highest rotational velocities measured for a pre-main sequence spectroscopic binary. The orbital parameters and mass ratios were determined by combining new visible light spectroscopy with our infrared data for both systems. For RX J0513.1+0851, we derived a period of ~4 days and a mass ratio of q = 0.46 +/- 0.01 and for RX J0539.9+0956, a period of ~1117 days and a mass ratio of q = 0.66 +/- 0.01. Based on our derived properties for the stellar components, we estimate the luminosities and hence distances to these binaries at 220 pc and 90 pc. They appear to be significantly closer than previously estimated.