A spectroscopic survey of Herbig Ae/Be stars with X-shooter - I. Stellar parameters and accretion rates
Abstract
Herbig Ae/Be stars (HAeBes) span a key mass range that links low- and high-mass stars, and thus provide an ideal window from which to explore their formation. This paper presents Very Large Telescope/X-shooter spectra of 91 HAeBes, the largest spectroscopic study of HAeBe accretion to date. A homogeneous approach to determining stellar parameters is undertaken for the majority of the sample. Measurements of the ultraviolet are modelled within the context of magnetospheric accretion, allowing a direct determination of mass accretion rates. Multiple correlations are observed across the sample between accretion and stellar properties: the youngest and often most massive stars are the strongest accretors, and there is an almost 1:1 relationship between the accretion luminosity and stellar luminosity. Despite these overall trends of increased accretion rates in HAeBes when compared to classical T Tauri stars, we also find noticeable differences in correlations when considering the Herbig Ae and Herbig Be subsets. This, combined with the difficulty in applying a magnetospheric accretion model to some of the Herbig Be stars, could suggest that another form of accretion may be occurring within Herbig Be mass range
Citation
Fairlamb , J R , Oudmaijer , R D , Mendigutía , I , Ilee , J D & van den Ancker , M E 2015 , ' A spectroscopic survey of Herbig Ae/Be stars with X-shooter - I. Stellar parameters and accretion rates ' , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , vol. 453 , no. 1 , pp. 976-1001 . https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv1576
Publication
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0035-8711Type
Journal article
Rights
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. © 2015 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the final published version of the work, which was originally published at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv1576
Description
JRF gratefully acknowledges a studentship from the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the UK. JDI gratefully acknowledges funding from the European Union FP7-2011 under grant agreement no. 284405.Collections
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