Long-term X-Ray Variability on the Benchmark YSO HL Tau

HL Tau is one of the most well-studied Class I young stellar objects (YSOs), including frequent observations at near- and mid-infrared, (sub)millimeter, and X-ray wavelengths. We present the results of an X-ray variability monitoring campaign with XMM-Newton in 2020 and X-ray grating spectroscopy fr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Steven M. Silverberg, Scott J. Wolk, David A. Principe, P. C. Schneider, Hans Moritz Günther, Jinyoung Serena Kim, Joel H. Kastner
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:The Astronomical Journal
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/adb284
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Summary:HL Tau is one of the most well-studied Class I young stellar objects (YSOs), including frequent observations at near- and mid-infrared, (sub)millimeter, and X-ray wavelengths. We present the results of an X-ray variability monitoring campaign with XMM-Newton in 2020 and X-ray grating spectroscopy from Chandra/HETGS in 2018. We find that the X-ray spectrum of HL Tau is consistently hot (with characteristic plasma temperatures T  ≳ 30 MK) over 31 epochs spanning 20 yr, which is consistent in temperature with most Class I YSOs. The high-resolution HETG spectrum indicates the presence of some cooler plasma. We characterize the variability of the star across the 31 observations and find a subset of observations with significant variability on a ∼21-day timescale in the observed count rate and flux. We discuss the possible origins of this variability and identify further observations that would better constrain the nature of the changes.
ISSN:1538-3881