Abstract
We present the results of our infrared JHK photometry for the unusual UX Ori star V1184 Tau. Comparison with previous observations performed before the catastrophic decline in its optical brightness in 2004 (when the star faded approximately by a factor of 100) has shown the following: the star faded approximately by 2m and 1m in the J and H bands, respectively, while its K brightness remained almost constant. This pattern of infrared variability seems incompatible with the mechanism of variable circumstellar extinction responsible for the dramatic decline in the star’s optical brightness. However, if this mechanism is considered in the context of an accretion disk model with a puffed-up inner rim in the dust sublimation zone and with a disk wind producing an expanding gas-dust atmosphere above the disk surface, then the paradox can be resolved. In this model, the photometric activity of V1184 Tau in both visible and near-infrared spectral ranges, including the sharp brightness decline in 2004, can be explained by an increase in the geometric thickness of the disk in the dust sublimation zone caused by enhanced accretion of circumstellar matter onto the star. There is reason to believe that such events occur periodically and result from the presence of a companion to V1184 Tau moving in a highly eccentric orbit. The offered interpretation of the photometric activity of V1184 Tau allows this object to be classified as an UX Ori star based on the observed photometric effect and, at the same time, as a FU Ori star based on the pattern of the physical process that produced this effect.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
J. Alves, L. Hartmann, C. Briceno, and Ch. J. Lada, Astron. J. 113, 1395 (1997).
P. Artymowicz and S. H. Lubow, Astrophys. J. 467, L77 (1996).
O. Yu. Barsunova, V. P. Grinin, and S. G. Sergeev, Pis’ma Astron. Zh. 32, 924 (2006) [Astron. Lett. 32, 832 (2006)].
E. I. Chiang and R. A. Mjurrey-Klay, Astrophys. J. 607, 913 (2004).
F. D’Alessio, Di C. Amico, Di P. Andrea, et al., Proc. SPIE 4008, 748 (2000).
C. P. Dullemond, M. E. van den Ancker, B. Acke, and R. van Bockel, Astrophys. J. 594, L47 (2003).
G. H. Herbig, Astron. J. 134, 637 (2008).
P. J. V. Garcia, S. Cabrit, J. Ferreira, and L. B. Binette, Astron. Astrophys. 377, 609 (2001).
V. P. Grinin, P. S. Thé, D. de Winter, et al., Astron. Astrophys. 292, 165 (1994).
A. Juhasz, T. Prusti, P. Abraham, and C. P. Dullemond, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 374, 1242 (2007).
A. Isella and A. Natta, Astron. Astrophys. 451, 951, 2005.
A. Konigl and R. E. Pudritz, Protostars and Planets IV, Ed. by V. Mannings, A. P. Boss, and S. S. Russel, (Univers. Arizona Press, 2000), p. 759.
J. S. Mathis, W. Rumpl, and K. H. Nordsieck, Astrophys. J. 217, 425 (1977).
J. Muzerolle, P. D’Alessio, N. Calvet, and L. Hartmann, Astrophys. J. 617, 406 (2004).
A. Natta, T. Prusti, R. Neri, et al., Astron. Astrophys. 371, 186 (2001).
K. M. Pontoppidan, C. P. Dullemond, G. A. Blake, et al., Astrophys. J. 656, 980 (2007).
E. H. Semkov, Astron. Astrophys. 404, 655 (2003).
E. H. Semkov, Astron. Astrophys. 419, L59 (2004).
E. H. Semkov, Astron. Nachr. 327, 328 (2006).
E. H. Semkov, M. K. Tsvetkov, A. P. Borisova, et al., Astron. Astrophys. 483, 537 (2008).
N. Ya. Sotnikova and S. A. Rodionov, Pis’ma Astron. Zh. 33, 667 (2006) [Astron. Lett. 33, 649 (2006)].
L. V. Tambovtseva and V. P. Grinin, Pis’ma Astron. Zh. 34, 259 (2008) [Astron. Lett. 34, 231 (2008)].
A. Tannirkulam, T. J. Harries, and J. D. Monnier, Astrophys. J. 661, 374 (2007).
J. N. Winn, M. J. Holman, J. A. Johnson, et al., Astrophys. J. 603, L45 (2004).
J. L. Yun, J. L. Moreira, J. F. Alves, and J. Storm, Astron. Astrophys. 320, 167 (1997).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © V.P. Grinin, A.A. Arkharov, O.Yu. Barsunova, S.G. Sergeev, L.V. Tambovtseva, 2009, published in Pis’ma v Astronomicheskiĭ Zhurnal, 2009, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 129–136.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Grinin, V.P., Arkharov, A.A., Barsunova, O.Y. et al. Photometric activity of the UX Ori star V1184 Tau in the optical and near-infrared spectral ranges. Astron. Lett. 35, 114–120 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063773709020054
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063773709020054