HARPS spectropolarimetry of classical T Tauri stars

Abstract

We present high spectral resolution Stokes V polarimetery of the Classical T Tauri stars (CTTSs) GQ Lup and TW Hya obtained with the polarimetric upgrade to the HARPS spectrometer on the ESO 3.6 m telescope. We present data on both photospheric lines and emission lines, concentrating our discussion on the polarization properties of the He I emission lines at 5876 A and 6678 A. The He I lines in both these CTTS contain both narrow emission cores, believed to come from near the accretion shock region on these stars, and broad emission components which may come from either a wind or the large scale magnetospheric accretion flow. We detect strong polarization in the narrow component of both the He I emission lines in both stars. We observe a maximum implied field strength of 5.8 +/- 0.3 kG in the 5876 Atextringaccent line of GQ Lup, the highest field strength measured to date in this line for a CTTS. We find field strengths in the two He I lines that are consistent with each other, unlike what has been reported in the literature on at least one star. We do not detect any polarization in the broad component of the He I lines on these stars, strengthening the conclusion that they form over a substantially different volume relative the formation region of the narrow component of the He I lines.

Publication
American Institute of Physics Conference Series

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