Diffraction limited infrared images of the binary star T Tauri

Abstract

High-resolution images of T Tau and its infrared companion have been reconstructed from near- and mid-infrared data collected at the Hale 5 m telescope. The near-infrared ( 1-5 µm) results were obtained by two dimensional speckle imaging and the mid-infrared (10-20 µm) results were derived from shift and add procedures applied to slit scans. The spectral energy distributions of the separated components were constructed from 1 to 20 µm data collected in less than half a year (1990 September to 1991 January). The spectral energy distribution of the optical component (T Tau N) is interpreted as containing two distinct constituents, a photosphere and a surrounding disk of circumstellar material. Measurements at a number of infrared wavelengths over the period 1985 December to 1991 January show a 2 mag color-independent change in the brightness of the infrared component (T Tau S). We propose that this may have been caused by an increase in accretion onto T Tau S and model the spectral energy distribution of T Tau S as being dominated by an accretion disk.