Simulations by Joel Kastner
Page by Norbert S. Schulz
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Simulations by Joel Kastner
Page by Norbert S. Schulz
TITLE: TW Hya: one of the nearest, and oldest classical T Tauri stars known.
At a distance of only 57 pc and age of about 20 Myr, the isolated pre-main sequence star TW Hya is the nearest, and one of the oldest, classical T Tauri stars known (Kastner et al. 1997, Science 277, 67). It is surrounded by a molecular, protoplanetary disk, and is an intense source of X-rays (flux ~2.5 times 10^{-12} erg/cm2/s, or L_x ~ 10^{30} ergs/s). Due to its proximity, TW Hya affords us a unique opportunity to study in detail a system that likely bears a close resemblance to the young Sun and solar system. With HETG, we will obtain the highest-quality X-ray spectrum yet obtained for any T Tauri star. High resolution X-ray spectroscopy of TW Hya will yield the intensities of many individual, diagnostic emission lines in the 5--20 Å region. These data thereby will provide unprecendented detail concerning the physical conditions in the X-ray emitting region surrounding a young, Sun-like star.
Figure 1: Simulted 50 ksec HETG spectrum in the 8 to 13 Å wavelength region. For this simulation we assumed a ~10^7 K coronal spectrum characterized by a continuous emssion measure and flux of ~2.5 x 10^-12 ser/cm2/s (Lx = 10^30 ergs/s). Note the prominent emssion lines of Fe, Ne, and Mg.
More to come...soon....
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