The JCMT Transient Survey: Detection of Submillimeter Variability in a Class I Protostar EC 53 in Serpens Main
- Department of Astronomy and Space Science, Chungnam National University, 99 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34134 (Korea, Republic of)
- School of Space Research, Kyung Hee University, 1732, Deogyeong-Daero, Giheung-gu Yongin-shi, Gyunggi-do 17104 (Korea, Republic of)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, V8P 1A1 (Canada)
- Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, Yiheyuan 5, Haidian Qu, 100871 Beijing (China)
- Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, 776 Daedeokdae-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34055 (Korea, Republic of)
During the protostellar phase of stellar evolution, accretion onto the star is expected to be variable, but this suspected variability has been difficult to detect because protostars are deeply embedded. In this paper, we describe a submillimeter luminosity burst of the Class I protostar EC 53 in Serpens Main, the first variable found during our dedicated JCMT/SCUBA-2 monitoring program of eight nearby star-forming regions. EC 53 remained quiescent for the first six months of our survey, from 2016 February to August. The submillimeter emission began to brighten in 2016 September, reached a peak brightness of 1.5 times the faint state, and has been decaying slowly since 2017 February. The change in submillimeter brightness is interpreted as dust heating in the envelope, generated by a luminosity increase of the protostar of a factor of ≥4. The 850 μ m light curve resembles the historical K -band light curve, which varies by a factor of ∼6 with a 543 period and is interpreted as accretion variability excited by interactions between the accretion disk and a close binary system. The predictable detections of accretion variability observed at both near-infrared and submillimeter wavelengths make the system a unique test-bed, enabling us to capture the moment of the accretion burst and to study the consequences of the outburst on the protostellar disk and envelope.
- OSTI ID:
- 22679703
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 849, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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