Accretion process, magnetic fields, and apsidal motion in the pre-main sequence binary DQ Tau

TL;DR

This study investigates the magnetic fields and accretion processes in the eccentric binary DQ Tau, revealing magnetic field strengths, accretion variability, and the first detection of apsidal motion in this system.

Contribution

First magnetic field analysis of DQ Tau showing field strengths and topology, and discovery of apsidal motion in this pre-main sequence binary.

Findings

Magnetic field strengths of 0.5 kG and 1.2 kG for primary and secondary.

Accretion rates vary with orbital phase, peaking at periastron and apastron.

First detection of apsidal motion in DQ Tau.

Abstract

Classical T Tauri stars (CTTSs) are young stellar objects that accrete materials from their accretion disc influenced by their strong magnetic field. The magnetic pressure truncates the disc at a few stellar radii and forces the material to leave the disc plane and fall onto the stellar surface by following the magnetic field lines. However, this global scheme may be disturbed by the presence of a companion interacting gravitationally with the accreting component. This work is aiming to study the accretion and the magnetic field of the tight eccentric binary DQ Tau, composed of two equal-mass ($\sim$ 0.6 \msun ) CTTSs interacting at different orbital phases. We investigated the variability of the system using a high-resolution spectroscopic and spectropolarimetric monitoring performed with ESPaDOnS at the CFHT. We provide the first ever magnetic field analysis of this system, the Zeeman-Doppler imaging revealed a stronger magnetic field for the secondary than the primary (1.2 kG and 0.5 kG, respectively), but the small-scale fields analysed through Zeeman intensification yielded similar strengths (about 2.5 kG). The magnetic field topology and strengths are compatible with the accretion processes on CTTSs. Both components of this system are accreting, with a change of the main accretor during the orbital motion. In addition, the system displays a strong enhancement of the mass accretion rate at periastron and apastron. We also discovered, for the first time in this system, the apsidal motion of the orbital ellipse.