On the apparent positions of T Tauri stars in the H-R diagram

Journal Article · Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1990 · Astrophysical Journal; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/168306· OSTI ID:6997560

Kenyon, S J; Hartmann, L W ^[1]

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1. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA (USA)

The spread in apparent luminosities of T Tauri stars caused by occultation and emission from protostellar disks is investigated. A random distribution of disk inclination angles, coupled with a plausible range of accretion rates, introduces a significant scatter in apparent luminosities for intrinsically identical stars. The observed dispersion of luminosities for K7-M1 Hayashi track stars thought to have disks in Taurus-Auriga is similar to predictions of the simple accretion disk model, which suggets that age determinations form many pre-main-sequence stars are uncertain. The results also suggest that Stahler's birthline for convective track pre-main-sequence stars may be located at slightly lower luminosities than previously thought. 38 refs.

• OSTI ID: 6997560
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal; (USA), Vol. 349; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
T TAURI STARS
LUMINOSITY
ACCRETION DISKS
CLASSIFICATION
HERTZSPRUNG-RUSSELL DIAGRAM
PROTOSTARS
STAR ACCRETION
STAR EVOLUTION
STAR MODELS
DIAGRAMS
ERUPTIVE VARIABLE STARS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
STARS
VARIABLE STARS
640102* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources