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Adaptive optics with a Laser For Astronomy
3D integral field spectroscopy
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T Tau is the classical young stellar object. Although it may not actually be so typical: in a survey of several similar systems, Beckwith et al. (1978) found that only T Tau had strong H2 emission. Line images by Herbst et al. (1996), again using 3D but without AO, suggested that the H2 and [Fe II] emission could be attributed to jets or outflows from the young stars.
T Tau itself is bright enough to for self-referencing even in fairly poor conditions. In good conditions we were sampling 30 subapertures at 300 Hz. The H-band continuum image is shown below. The two stars, which are 0.6" apart are easily separated. The data will be used to make very high resolution line-maps of the region immediately around and between the stars. Preliminary examination of the K-band data indicates that there is remarkably little H2 very close to the stars - somewhat surprising given the earlier results.
| H-band image of T Tau |
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Data reduced & figures drawn by L. Looney & M. Kasper