By means of numerical simulations, we investigate magnetized stellar winds of pre-main-sequence stars. In particular we analyze under which circumstances these stars will present elongated magnetic features (e.g., helmet streamers, slingshot prominences, etc). We focus on weak-lined T Tauri stars, as the presence of the tenuous accretion disk is not expected to have strong influence on the structure of the stellar wind. We show that the plasma-beta parameter (the ratio of thermal to magnetic energy densities) is a decisive factor in defining the magnetic configuration of the stellar wind. Using initial parameters within the observed range for these stars, we show that the coronal magnetic field configuration can vary between a dipole-like configuration and a configuration with strong collimated polar lines and closed streamers at the equator (multi-component configuration for the magnetic field). We show that elongated magnetic features will only be present if the plasma-beta parameter at the coronal base is beta<<1. Using our self-consistent 3D MHD model, we estimate for these stellar winds the time-scale of planet migration due to drag forces exerted by the stellar wind on a hot-Jupiter. In contrast to the findings of Lovelace et al. (2008), who estimated such time-scales using the Weber & Davis model, our model suggests that the stellar wind of these multi-component coronae are not expected to have significant influence on hot-Jupiters migration. Further simulations are necessary to investigate this result under more intense surface magnetic field strengths (~2-3 kG) and higher coronal base densities, as well as in a tilted stellar magnetosphere.
We use Spitzer data to infer that the small infrared excess of V819 Tau, a weak-lined T Tauri star in Taurus, is real and not attributable to a "companion" 10 arcsec to the south. We do not confirm the mid-infrared excess in HBC 427 and V410 X-ray 3, which are also non-accreting T Tauri stars in the same region; instead, for the former object, the excess arises from a red companion 9 arcsec to the east. A single-temperature blackbody fit to the continuum excess of V819 Tau implies a dust temperature of 143 K; however, a better fit is achieved when the weak 10 and 20 micron silicate emission fe…
Based on our previous work (Vidotto et al. 2009a), we investigate the effects on the wind and magnetospheric structures of weak-lined T Tauri stars due to a misalignment between the axis of rotation of the star and its magnetic dipole moment vector. In such configuration, the system loses the axisymmetry presented in the aligned case, requiring a fully 3D approach. We perform 3D numerical MHD simulations of stellar winds and study the effects caused by different model parameters. The system reaches a periodic behavior with the same rotational period of the star. We show that the magnetic field…
We present new high-resolution mid-infrared imaging, high-resolution optical spectroscopy, and Chandra grating X-ray spectroscopy of the weak-lined T Tauri star DoAr 21. DoAr 21 (age < 10^6 yr and mass ~ 2.2 M_sun) is a strong X-ray emitter, with conflicting evidence in the literature about its disk properties. It shows weak but broad H-alpha emission; polarimetric variability; PAH and H2 emission; and a strong, spatially-resolved 24-micron excess in archival Spitzer photometry. Gemini sub-arcsecond-resolution 9--18 micron images show that there is little or no excess mid-infrared emission wit…
We present a detailed temperature and magnetic investigation of the T Tauri star V410 Tau by means of a simultaneous Doppler- and Zeeman-Doppler Imaging. Moreover we introduce a new line profile reconstruction method based on a singular value decomposition (SVD) to extract the weak polarized line profiles. One of the key features of the line profile reconstruction is that the SVD line profiles are amenable to radiative transfer modeling within our Zeeman-Doppler Imaging code iMap. The code also utilizes a new iterative regularization scheme which is independent of any additional surface constr…
We present the Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer (HETGS) and Keck observations of HDE 245059, a young weak-lined T Tauri star (WTTS), member of the pre-main sequence group in the Lambda Orionis Cluster. Our high spatial resolution, near-infrared observations with Keck reveal that HDE 245059 a binary separated by 0.87". Based on this new information we have obtained an estimate of the masses of the binary components; 3M_{sun} and 2.5M_{sun} for the north and south components, respectively. We have estimated the age of the system to be ~2-3 Myr. We detect both components of t…
We report optical (6150 Ang) and K-band (2.3 micron) radial velocities obtained over two years for the pre-main sequence weak-lined T Tauri star Hubble I 4. We detect periodic and near-sinusoidal radial velocity variations at both wavelengths, with a semi-amplitude of 1395\pm94 m/s in the optical and 365\pm80 m/s in the infrared. The lower velocity amplitude at the longer wavelength, combined with bisector analysis and spot modeling, indicates that there are large, cool spots on the stellar surface that are causing the radial velocity modulation. The radial velocities maintain phase coherence …
We report new multi-colour photometry and high-resolution spectroscopic observations of the long-period variable V501 Aur, previously considered to be a weak-lined T-Tauri star belonging to the Taurus-Auriga star-forming region. The spectroscopic observations reveal that V501 Aur is a single-lined spectroscopic binary system with a 68.8-day orbital period, a slightly eccentric orbit (e ~ 0.03), and a systemic velocity discrepant from the mean of Taurus-Auriga. The photometry shows quasi-periodic variations on a different, ~55-day timescale that we attribute to rotational modulation by spots. N…
A radial velocity study by Donati et al. (2016) reported the detection of a close-in giant planet in a 4.93 d orbit around the ~2 Myr old weak-lined T Tauri star V830 Tau. Because of the stringent timescale constraints that a very young host star like V830 Tau would place on hot Jupiter formation models and inward migration mechanisms, independent confirmation of the planet's existence is needed but so far has not been obtained. We present new Chandra X-ray observations of V830 Tau. The Chandra observations in combination with previous XMM-Newton observations reveal strong variable X-ray emiss…
We present a far-ultraviolet (FUV) spectral atlas consisting of spectra of 91 pre-main sequence stars. Most stars in this sample were observed with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the \emph{Hubble Space Telescope} (\emph{HST}). We find strong correlations among the \ion{O}{1} $λ$1304 triplet, %\ion{C}{2} $λ$1335, the \ion{Si}{4} $λλ$1394/1403 doublet, the \ion{C}{4} $λ$1549 doublet, and the \ion{He}{2} $λ$1640 line luminosities. For classical T Tauri stars (CTTSs), we also find strong correlations between these lines and the accretion lu…
We summarize Hubble Space Telescope (HST) UV observations of the weak-lined T Tauri star (wTTS) PDS 70 obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS). These observations provide the first far-UV (FUV) and near-UV (NUV) spectra of PDS 70. Ground-based observations have so far revealed two formative giant planets orbiting in a wide gap in its circumstellar disk. Both the star and young planets are thought to still be accreting. The HST spectra provide new insight into physical conditions in the star's outer atmosphere and circumstellar environment. The spectra are dominated by chr…
We present a study of the long-term optical variability of young T Tauri stars using previously unpublished data from the SuperWASP project. Other publicly available photometry from NSVS and the NASA K2 mission were used to check and supplement our results. Our sample includes twenty weak-lined T Tauri stars in the Taurus-Auriga star-forming region. We have performed a period search on the long time-series photometry and derived the mean periods of stars in our sample. We have found new periods for the stars V1334 Tau (HD 283782) and V1349 Tau (HD 31281) without any estimation of the period in…
We present the discovery of two extended $\sim$0.12 mag dimming events of the weak-lined T-Tauri star V1334. The start of the first event was missed but came to an end in late 2003, and the second began in February 2009, and continues as of November 2016. Since the egress of the current event has not yet been observed, it suggests a period of $>$13 years if this event is periodic. Spectroscopic observations suggest the presence of a small inner disk, although the spectral energy distribution shows no infrared excess. We explore the possibility that the dimming events are caused by an orbiting …
Most existing studies of the angular momentum evolution of young stellar populations have focused on the youngest (1-3 Myr) T Tauri stars. In contrast, the angular momentum distributions of older T Tauri stars (4-10 Myr) have been less studied, even though they hold key insight to understanding stellar angular momentum evolution at a time when protoplanetary disks have largely dissipated and when models therefore predict changes in the rotational evolution that can in principle be tested. We present a study of photometric variability among 1,974 confirmed T Tauri members of various sub-regions…
Planets in close-in orbits interact magnetically and tidally with their host stars. These interactions lead to a net torque that makes close-in planets migrate inward or outward depending on their orbital distance. We compare systematically the strength of magnetic and tidal torques for typical observed star-planet systems (T-Tauri & hot Jupiter, M dwarf & Earth-like planet, K star & hot Jupiter) based on state-of-the-art scaling-laws. We find that depending on the characteristics of the system, tidal or magnetic effects can dominate. For very close-in planets, we find that both torques can ma…
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 spectr…
Several arguments have been presented that favour a scenario in which the low detection rate of magnetic fields in Herbig Ae stars can be explained by the weakness of these fields and rather large measurement uncertainties. Spectropolarimetric studies involving sharp-lined Herbig Ae stars appear to be promising for the detection of such weak magnetic fields. These studies offer a clear spectrum interpretation with respect to the effects of blending, local velocity fields, and chemical abundances, and allow us to identify a proper sample of spectral lines appropriate for magnetic field determin…
We report the results of an extended spectropolarimetric and photometric monitoring of the weak-line T Tauri star TAP 26, carried out within the MaTYSSE programme with the ESPaDOnS spectropolarimeter at the 3.6 m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. Applying Zeeman-Doppler Imaging to our observations, concentrating in 2015 November and 2016 January and spanning 72 d in total, 16 d in 2015 November and 13 d in 2016 January, we reconstruct surface brightness and magnetic field maps for both epochs and demonstrate that both distributions exhibit temporal evolution not explained by differential rotatio…
We report observations of a possible young transiting planet orbiting a previously known weak-lined T-Tauri star in the 7-10 Myr old Orion-OB1a/25-Ori region. The candidate was found as part of the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) Orion project. It has a photometric transit period of 0.448413 +- 0.000040 days, and appears in both 2009 and 2010 PTF data. Follow-up low-precision radial velocity (RV) observations and adaptive optics imaging suggest that the star is not an eclipsing binary, and that it is unlikely that a background source is blended with the target and mimicking the observed transi…
We present the results of an optical photometry and high-resolution spectroscopy campaign for a modest sample of X-ray selected stars in the Chamaeleon and Rho Ophiuchus star forming regions. With R~50000 optical spectra, we establish kinematic membership of the parent association and confirm stellar youth for each star in our sample. With the acquisition of new standardized BVIc photometry, in concert with near-infrared data from the literature, we derive age and mass from stellar positions in model-dependent Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams. We compare isochronal ages derived using colour-depend…
Ultra-short-period (USP) planets reside inside the expected truncation radius for typical T Tauri disks. As a result, their current orbital locations require an explanation beyond standard disk migration or in situ formation. Modern theories of planet-disk interactions indicate that once a planet migrates close to the disk's inner truncation radius, Type I torques vanish or switch direction, depending on the stellar and disk conditions, so that the planet is expected to stop its orbital decay and become trapped. In this work, we show that that magnetically-driven sub-Keplerian gas flow in the …
In this paper we present the results of a detailed spectroscopic and photometric analysis of the V=13$^m$.4 low-mass eclipsing binary NSVS 06507557 with an orbital period of 0.515 d. We obtained a series of mid-resolution spectra covering nearly entire orbit of the system. In addition we obtained simultaneous VRI broadband photometry using a small aperture telescope. From these spectroscopic and photometric data we have derived the system's orbital parameters and determined the fundamental stellar parameters of the two components. Our results indicate that NSVS 06507557 consists of a K9 and an…
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 …
Ages and masses of young stars are often estimated by comparing their luminosities and effective temperatures to pre-main sequence stellar evolution tracks, but magnetic fields and starspots complicate both the observations and evolution. To understand their influence, we study the heavily-spotted weak-lined T-Tauri star LkCa 4 by searching for spectral signatures of radiation originating from the starspot or starspot groups. We introduce a new methodology for constraining both the starspot filling factor and the spot temperature by fitting two-temperature stellar atmosphere models constructed…
We present the first double-lined orbital solution for the close binary in the GW Ori triple system. Using 12 epochs of infrared spectroscopy, we detected the lines of both stars in the inner pair, previously known as single-lined only. Our preliminary infrared orbital solution has an eccentricity of e = 0.21 +/- 0.10, a period of P = 241.15 +/- 0.72 days, and a mass ratio of q = 0.66 +/- 0.13. We find a larger semi-amplitude for the primary star, K1 = 6.57 +/- 1.00 km s^-1, with an infrared-only solution compared to K1 = 4.41 +/- 0.33 km s^-1 with optical data from the literature, likely the …
Hot Jupiters are giant Jupiter-like exoplanets that orbit 100x closer to their host stars than Jupiter does to the Sun. These planets presumably form in the outer part of the primordial disc from which both the central star and surrounding planets are born, then migrate inwards and yet avoid falling into their host star. It is however unclear whether this occurs early in the lives of hot Jupiters, when still embedded within protoplanetary discs, or later, once multiple planets are formed and interact. Although numerous hot Jupiters were detected around mature Sun-like stars, their existence ha…
There is a large change in surface rotation rates of sun-like stars on the pre-main sequence and early main sequence. Since these stars have dynamo driven magnetic fields, this implies a strong evolution of their magnetic properties over this time period. The spin-down of these stars is controlled by interactions between stellar winds and magnetic fields, thus magnetic evolution in turn plays an important role in rotational evolution. We present here the second part of a study investigating the evolution of large-scale surface magnetic fields in this critical time period. We observed stars in …
We report time-resolved, high-resolution optical spectropolarimetric observations of the young double-lined spectroscopic binary V1878 Ori. Our observations were collected with the ESPaDOnS spectropolarimeter at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope through the BinaMIcS large programme. V1878 Ori A and B are partially convective intermediate mass weak-line T Tauri stars on an eccentric and asynchronous orbit. We also acquired X-ray observations at periastron and outside periastron. Using the least-squares deconvolution technique (LSD) to combine information from many spectral lines, we clearly de…
In this work, we identify 63 bona fide new candidates to T Tauri stars (TTSs) in the Taurus-Auriga region using as baseline its ultraviolet excess. The initial data set has been defined from the GALEX all sky survey (AIS). The GALEX satellite obtained images in the near ultraviolet (NUV) and far ultraviolet (FUV) bands where the TTSs show a prominent excess, compared with main sequence or giants stars. GALEX AIS surveyed the Taurus-Auriga molecular complex, as well as, a fraction of the California Nebula and the Perseus complex; bright sources and the dark clouds themselves are avoided. The pr…
We explore here the young stellar populations in the Rosette Molecular Cloud (RMC) region with high spatial resolution X-ray images from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which are effective in locating weak-lined T Tauri stars as well as disk-bearing young stars. A total of 395 X-ray point sources are detected, 299 of which (76%) have an optical or near-infrared (NIR) counterpart identified from deep FLAMINGOS images. From X-ray and mass sensitivity limits, we infer a total population of about 1700 young stars in the survey region. Based on smoothed stellar surface density maps, we investigate t…
