T CrA has a companion
T CrA is a Herbig Ae-type young star in a complex circumstellar environment; it includes a circumstellar disk, accretion streamers, jets, and outflows. It has long been suspected to be a binary. However, until now, there has been no direct detection of a companion. Here we present new VLTI/MATISSE L - and N -band observations of T CrA taken between 2023 May and 2024 August with the aim of testing the binary nature of the system. We modeled the data with a geometric model using the Python tool oimodeler . We detected a companion (T CrA B) with a projected separation of Δ r = 153.2 ± 1.2 mas (≈23 au) toward the west direction at a position angle of 275.4 ± 0.1°, in 2024 May–August. Our results support that the companion has a nearly edge-on orbit that is highly misaligned with respect to the circumprimary disk. Such a configuration could cause warping and tearing of the disk around the primary, which has been proposed by recent studies. In the L band the companion is extended, with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) size of ∼1 au, suggesting that the emission comes from a disk around the secondary star. The companion flux is 0.2–0.3 Jy in the L band, and 0.2–0.7 Jy in the N band, accounting for 4–20% of the total emission at those wavelengths. The SED of the companion is compatible with thermal radiation of warm dust (600–800 K).
Authors
- J.‐C. Augereau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2725-6415)
- P. A. Boley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7923-2979)
- B. López (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1484-0890)
- M. R. Hogerheijde (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5217-537X)
- J. Varga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4989-575X)
- W. C. Danchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9209-5830)
- M. Scheuck (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6108-6931)
- A. Matter
- S. F. Wolf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1434-2944)
- G. Weigelt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9754-2233)
- F. Millour (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9765-7783)
- Fernando Cruz-Sáenz de Miera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4283-2185)
- P. Ábrahám
- Á Kóspál
- F. Lykou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6394-8013)
- Longyue Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2835-1729)
- L. van Haastere
- L. Zwicky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-5049-340X)
- J. Scigliuto
- A. Moór (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9360-2670)
- R. van Boekel
- Th. Henning
- T. Juhász
- P. Priolet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4227-5449)
Institutions
- Eötvös Loránd University (HU)
- Leiden University (NL)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Goddard Space Flight Center (US)
- Université Côte d'Azur (FR)
- Konkoly Observatory (HU)
- Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (DE)
- Centre for Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics (UZ)
- Institute of Astronomy (RU)
- Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (FR)
- Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK)
- Institute of Applied Astronomy (RU)
- Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (DE)
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (FR)
- University of Amsterdam (NL)
- Université Grenoble Alpes (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Published
- 2025-03-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202453443
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.96