High Angular Resolution Imaging of the V892 Tau Binary System: A New Circumprimary Disk Detection and Updated Orbital Constraints

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution imaging at multiple wavelengths to analyze the V892 Tau binary system, revealing a new circumprimary disk, refining the orbital parameters, and providing detailed insights into the system's structure.

Contribution

First direct imaging detection of a circumprimary disk around V892 Tau and updated orbital constraints using multi-epoch, multi-wavelength data.

Findings

Resolved a circumprimary disk for the first time.

Provided the tightest orbital parameter estimates to date.

Differentiated stellar and disk emission at small angular separations.

Abstract

We present a direct imaging study of V892 Tau, a young Herbig Ae/Be star with a close-in stellar companion and circumbinary disk. Our observations consist of images acquired via Keck 2/NIRC2 with non-redundant masking and the pyramid wavefront sensor at K$^\prime$ band (2.12$\mu$m) and L$^\prime$ band (3.78$\mu$m). Sensitivity to low-mass accreting companions and cool disk material is high at L$^\prime$ band, while complimentary observations at K$^\prime$ band probe hotter material with higher angular resolution. These multi-wavelength, multi-epoch data allow us to differentiate the secondary stellar emission from disk emission and deeply probe the structure of the circumbinary disk at small angular separations. We constrain architectural properties of the system by fitting geometric disk and companion models to the K$^\prime$ and L$^\prime$ band data. From these models, we constrain the astrometric and photometric properties of the stellar binary and update the orbit, placing the tightest estimates to date on the V892 Tau orbital parameters. We also constrain the geometric structure of the circumbinary disk, and resolve a circumprimary disk for the first time.