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Christopher M. Johns-Krull

Publications and source records attributed to Christopher M. Johns-Krull.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

A Far-ultraviolet Atlas of Low-resolution Hubble Space Telescope Spectra of T Tauri Stars

We present a far-ultraviolet (FUV) spectral atlas consisting of spectra of 91 pre-main sequence stars. Most stars in this sample were observed with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the \emph{Hubble Space Telescope} (\emph{HST}). We find strong correlations among the \ion{O}{1} $λ$1304 triplet, %\ion{C}{2} $λ$1335, the \ion{Si}{4} $λλ$1394/1403 doublet, the \ion{C}{4} $λ$1549 doublet, and the \ion{He}{2} $λ$1640 line luminosities. For classical T Tauri stars (CTTSs), we also find strong correlations between these lines and the accretion luminosity, suggesting that these lines form in processes related to accretion. These FUV line fluxes and X-ray luminosity correlate loosely with large scatters. The FUV emission also correlates well with H$α$, H$β$, and \ion{Ca}{2} K line luminosities. These correlations between FUV and optical diagostics can be used to obtain rough estimates of FUV line fluxes from optical observations. Molecular hydrogen (H$_{2}$) emission is generally present in the spectra of actively accreting CTTSs but not the weak-lined T Tauri stars (WTTSs) that are not accreting. The presence of H$_2$ emission in the spectrum of HD 98800 N suggests that the disk should be classified as actively accreting rather than a debris disk. The spectra in the atlas are available at http://archive.stsci.edu/prepds/ttauriatlas.

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Complex Variability of the H$α$ Emission Line Profile of the T Tauri Binary System KH 15D: The Influence of Orbital Phase, Occultation by the Circumbinary Disk, and Accretion Phenomenae

We have obtained 48 high resolution echelle spectra of the pre-main sequence eclipsing binary system KH~15D (V582 Mon, P = 48.37 d, $e$ $\sim$ 0.6, M$_{A}$ = 0.6 M$_{\odot}$, M$_{B}$ = 0.7 M$_{\odot}$). The eclipses are caused by a circumbinary disk seen nearly edge on, which at the epoch of these observations completely obscured the orbit of star B and a large portion of the orbit of star A. The spectra were obtained over five contiguous observing seasons from 2001/2002 to 2005/2006 while star A was fully visible, fully occulted, and during several ingress and egress events. The H$α$ line profile shows dramatic changes in these time series data over timescales ranging from days to years. A fraction of the variations are due to "edge effects" and depend only on the height of star A above or below the razor sharp edge of the occulting disk. Other observed variations depend on the orbital phase: the H$α$ emission line profile changes from an inverse P Cygni type profile during ingress to an enhanced double-peaked profile, with both a blue and red emission component, during egress. Each of these interpreted variations are complicated by the fact that there is also a chaotic, irregular component present in these profiles. We find that the complex data set can be largely understood in the context of accretion onto the stars from a circumbinary disk with gas flows as predicted by the models of eccentric T Tauri binaries put forward by Artymowicz & Lubow, Günther & Kley, and de Val-Borro et al. In particular, our data provide strong support for the pulsed accretion phenomenon, in which enhanced accretion occurs during and after perihelion passage.

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Starspot-induced optical and infrared radial velocity variability in T Tauri star Hubble 4

We report optical (6150 Ang) and K-band (2.3 micron) radial velocities obtained over two years for the pre-main sequence weak-lined T Tauri star Hubble I 4. We detect periodic and near-sinusoidal radial velocity variations at both wavelengths, with a semi-amplitude of 1395\pm94 m/s in the optical and 365\pm80 m/s in the infrared. The lower velocity amplitude at the longer wavelength, combined with bisector analysis and spot modeling, indicates that there are large, cool spots on the stellar surface that are causing the radial velocity modulation. The radial velocities maintain phase coherence over hundreds of days suggesting that the starspots are long-lived. This is one of the first active stars where the spot-induced velocity modulation has been resolved in the infrared.

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Precision radial velocities with CSHELL

Radial velocity identification of extrasolar planets has historically been dominated by optical surveys. Interest in expanding exoplanet searches to M dwarfs and young stars, however, has motivated a push to improve the precision of near infrared radial velocity techniques. We present our methodology for achieving 58 m/s precision in the K band on the M0 dwarf GJ 281 using the CSHELL spectrograph at the 3-meter NASA IRTF. We also demonstrate our ability to recover the known 4 Mjup exoplanet Gl 86 b and discuss the implications for success in detecting planets around 1-3 Myr old T Tauri stars.

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The Far-Ultraviolet "Continuum" in Protoplanetary Disk Systems II: CO Fourth Positive Emission and Absorption

We exploit the high sensitivity and moderate spectral resolution of the $HST$-Cosmic Origins Spectrograph to detect far-ultraviolet spectral features of carbon monoxide (CO) present in the inner regions of protoplanetary disks for the first time. We present spectra of the classical T Tauri stars HN Tau, RECX-11, and V4046 Sgr, representative of a range of CO radiative processes. HN Tau shows CO bands in absorption against the accretion continuum. We measure a CO column density and rotational excitation temperature of N(CO) = 2 +/- 1 $\times$ 10$^{17}$ cm$^{-2}$ and T_rot(CO) 500 +/- 200 K for the absorbing gas. We also detect CO A-X band emission in RECX-11 and V4046 Sgr, excited by ultraviolet line photons, predominantly HI LyA. All three objects show emission from CO bands at $λ$ $>$ 1560 Å, which may be excited by a combination of UV photons and collisions with non-thermal electrons. In previous observations these emission processes were not accounted for due to blending with emission from the accretion shock, collisionally excited H$_{2}$, and photo-excited H2; all of which appeared as a "continuum" whose components could not be separated. The CO emission spectrum is strongly dependent upon the shape of the incident stellar LyA emission profile. We find CO parameters in the range: N(CO) 10$^{18-19}$ cm$^{-2}$, T_{rot}(CO) > 300 K for the LyA-pumped emission. We combine these results with recent work on photo- and collisionally-excited H$_{2}$ emission, concluding that the observations of ultraviolet-emitting CO and H2 are consistent with a common spatial origin. We suggest that the CO/H2 ratio in the inner disk is ~1, a transition between the much lower interstellar value and the higher value observed in solar system comets today, a result that will require future observational and theoretical study to confirm.

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Magnetic-field measurements of T Tauri stars in the Orion Nebula cluster

We present an analysis of high-resolution ($R \sim 50,000$) infrared K-band echelle spectra of 14 T Tauri stars in the Orion Nebula Cluster. We model Zeeman broadening in three magnetically sensitive \ion{Ti}{1} lines near $2.2\ μ$m and consistently detect kilogauss-level magnetic fields in the stellar photospheres. The data are consistent in each case with the entire stellar surface being covered with magnetic fields, suggesting that magnetic pressure likely dominates over gas pressure in the photospheres of these stars. These very strong magnetic fields might themselves be responsible for the underproduction of X-ray emission of T Tauri stars relative to what is expected based on main-sequence star calibrations. We combine these results with previous measurements of 14 stars in Taurus and 5 stars in the TW Hydrae association to study the potential variation of magnetic-field properties during the first 10 million years of stellar evolution, finding a steady decline in total magnetic flux with age.

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The Light Curve of the Weakly-Accreting T Tauri Binary KH 15D from 2005-10: Insights into the Nature of its Protoplanetary Disk

Photometry of the unique pre-main sequence binary system KH 15D is presented, spanning the years 2005-2010. This system has exhibited photometric variations and eclipses over the last 50 years caused by a precessing circumbinary disk. Advancement of the occulting edge across the binary orbit has continued and the photospheres of both stars are now completely obscured at all times. The system is now visible only by scattered light, and yet it continues to show a periodic variation on the orbital cycle with an amplitude exceeding two magnitudes. This variation, which depends only on the binary phase, has likely been present in the data since at least 1995. It can, by itself, account for shoulders on the light curve prior to ingress and following egress, obviating the need for components of extant models such as a scattering halo around star A or forward scattering from a fuzzy disk edge. A plausible source for the variable scattering component is reflected light from the far side of a warped occulting disk. We have detected color changes in V-I of several tenths of a magnitude to both the blue and red that occur during times of minima. These may indicate the presence of a third source of light (faint star) within the system, or a change in the reflectance properties of the disk as the portion being illuminated varies with the orbital motion of the stars. The data support a picture of the circumbinary disk as a geometrically thin, optically thick layer of perhaps mm or cm-sized particles that has been sculpted by the binary stars and possibly other components into a decidedly nonplanar configuration. A simple (infinitely sharp) knife-edge model does a good job of accounting for all of the recent (2005-2010) occultation data.

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NICMOS Observations of the Transiting Hot Jupiter XO-1b

We refine the physical parameters of the transiting hot Jupiter planet XO-1b and its stellar host XO-1 using HST NICMOS observations. XO-1b has a radius Rp=1.21+/-0.03 RJup, and XO-1 has a radius Rs=0.94+/-0.02 RSun, where the uncertainty in the mass of XO-1 dominates the uncertainty of Rp and Rs. There are no significant differences in the XO-1 system properties between these broad-band NIR observations and previous determinations based upon ground-based optical observations. We measure two transit timings from these observations with 9 s and 15 s precision. As a residual to a linear ephemeris model, there is a 2.0 sigma timing difference between the two HST visits that are separated by 3 transit events (11.8 days). These two transit timings and additional timings from the literature are sufficient to rule out the presence of an Earth mass planet orbiting in 2:1 mean motion resonance coplanar with XO-1b. We identify and correct for poorly understood gain-like variations present in NICMOS time series data. This correction reduces the effective noise in time series photometry by a factor of two, for the case of XO-1.

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Thermal Emission and Tidal Heating of the Heavy and Eccentric Planet XO-3b

We determined the flux ratios of the heavy and eccentric planet XO-3b to its parent star in the four IRAC bands of the Spitzer Space Telescope: 0.101% +- 0.004% at 3.6 micron; 0.143% +- 0.006% at 4.5 micron; 0.134% +- 0.049% at 5.8 micron and 0.150% +- 0.036% at 8.0 micron. The flux ratios are within [-2.2,0.3, -0.8, -1.7]-sigma of the model of XO-3b with a thermally inverted stratosphere in the 3.6 micron, 4.5 micron, 5.8 micron and 8.0 micron channels, respectively. XO-3b has a high illumination from its parent star (Fp ~(1.9 - 4.2) x 10^9 ergs cm^-2 s^-1) and is thus expected to have a thermal inversion, which we indeed observe. When combined with existing data for other planets, the correlation between the presence of an atmospheric temperature inversion and the substellar flux is insufficient to explain why some high insolation planets like TrES-3 do not have stratospheric inversions and some low insolation planets like XO-1b do have inversions. Secondary factors such as sulfur chemistry, atmospheric metallicity, amounts of macroscopic mixing in the stratosphere or even dynamical weather effects likely play a role. Using the secondary eclipse timing centroids we determined the orbital eccentricity of XO-3b as e = 0.277 +- 0.009. The model radius-age trajectories for XO-3b imply that at least some amount of tidal-heating is required to inflate the radius of XO-3b, and the tidal heating parameter of the planet is constrained to Qp < 10^6 .

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Bipolar jets produced by a spectroscopic binary

We present evidence that the spectroscopically identified bipolar jets of the pre-main sequence binary KH 15D are a common product of the whole binary system, rather than being launched from either star individually. They may be launched from the innermost part of the circumbinary disk (CBD) or may result from the merging of two outflows driven by the individual stars. This evidence is based on high-resolution H-alpha and [OI] 6300A line profiles obtained during eclipse phases of this nearly edge-on system. The occultation of star A (the only currently visible star) by the disk strongly suppresses the stellar H-alpha and continuum emission and allows one to study the faint redshifted and blueshifted emission components of the bipolar jets. The strongest evidence for jet production by the whole binary system comes from the observed radial velocity symmetry of the two jet components relative to the systemic velocity of the binary, in combination with current accretion models from the CBD onto a binary system.

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Detection of Thermal Emission of XO-2b: Evidence for a Weak Temperature Inversion

We estimate flux ratios of the extrasolar planet XO-2b to its host star XO-2 at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8 and 8.0 micron with IRAC on the Spitzer Space Telescope to be 0.00081 +- 0.00017, 0.00098 +- 0.00020, 0.00167 +- 0.00036 and 0.00133 +- 0.00049, respectively. The fluxes provide tentative evidence for a weak temperature inversion in the upper atmosphere, the precise nature of which would need to be confirmed by longer wavelength observations. XO-2b substellar flux of 0.76 x 10^9 ergs cm^-2 s^-1 lies in the predicted transition region between atmospheres with and without upper atmospheric temperature inversion.

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First Magnetic Field Detection on a Class I Protostar

Strong stellar magnetic fields are believed to truncate the inner accretion disks around young stars, redirecting the accreting material to the high latitude regions of the stellar surface. In the past few years, observations of strong stellar fields on T Tauri stars with field strengths in general agreement with the predictions of magnetospheric accretion theory have bolstered this picture. Currently, nothing is known about the magnetic field properties of younger, more embedded Class I young stellar objects (YSOs). It is believed that protostars accrete much of their final mass during the Class I phase, but the physics governing this process remains poorly understood. Here, we use high resolution near infrared spectra obtained with NIRSPEC on Keck and with Phoenix on Gemini South to measure the magnetic field properties of the Class I protostar WL 17. We find clear signatures of a strong stellar magnetic field. Analysis of this data suggests a surface average field strength of $2.9 \pm 0.43$ kG on WL 17. We present our field measurements and discuss how they fit with the general model of magnetospheric accretion in young stars.

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Stellar and Circumstellar Properties of Class I Protostars

We present a study of the stellar and circumstellar properties of Class I sources using low-resolution (R~1000) near-infrared K- and L-band spectroscopy. We measure prominent spectral lines and features in 8 objects and use fits to standard star spectra to determine spectral types, visual extinctions, K-band excesses, and water ice optical depths. Four of the seven systems studied are close binary pairs; only one of these systems, Haro 6-10, was angularly resolvab le. For certain stars some properties found in our analysis differ substantially from published values; we analyze the origin of these differences. We determine extinction to each source using three different methods and compare and discuss the resulting values. One hypothesis that we were testing, that extinction dominates over the K-band excess in obscuration of the stellar photospheric absorption lines, appears not to be true. Accretion luminosities and mass accretion rates calculated for our targets are highly uncertain, in part the result of our inexact knowledge of extinction. For the six targets we were able to place on an H-R diagram, our age estimates, <2 Myr, are somewhat younger than those from comparable studies. Our results underscore the value of low-resolution spectroscopy in the study of protostars and their environments; however, the optimal approach to the study of Class I sources likely involves a combination of high- and low-resolution near-infrared, mid-infrared, and millimeter wavelength observations. Accurate and precise measurements of extinction in Class I protostars will be key to improving our understanding of these objects.

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Magnetic Properties of Young Stars in the TW Hydrae Association

We present an analysis of infrared (IR) echelle spectra of five stars in the TW Hydrae Association (TWA). We model the Zeeman broadening in four magnetic-sensitive \ion{Ti}{1} lines near $2.2 μ$m and measure the value of the photospheric magnetic field averaged over the surface of each star. To ensure that other broadening mechanisms are properly taken into account, we also inspect several magnetically insensitive CO lines near $2.3 μ$m and find no excess broadening above that produced by stellar rotation and instrumental broadening, providing confidence in the magnetic interpretation of the width of the \ion{Ti}{1} lines. We then utilize our results to test the relationship between stellar magnetic flux and X-ray properties and compare the measured fields with equipartition field values. Finally, we use our results and recent results on a large sample of stars in Taurus to discuss the potential evolution of magnetic field properties between the age of Taurus ($\sim$2 Myrs) and the age of TWA ($\sim$10 Myrs). We find that the average stellar field strength increases with age; however, the total unsigned magnetic flux decreases as the stars contract onto the main-sequence.

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XO-4b: An Extrasolar Planet Transiting an F5V Star

We report the discovery of the planet XO-4b, which transits the star XO-4 (GSC 03793-01994, V=10.7, F5V). Transits are 1.0% deep and 4.4 hours in duration. The star XO-4 has a mass of 1.32 M_sun.... The planet XO-4b has a mass of 1.72 M_Jup....radius of 1.34 R_Jup...orbital period 4.125 days. We analyze scintillation-limited differential R-band photometry of XO-4b in transit made with a 1.8-m telescope under photometric conditions, yielding photometric precision of 0.6 to 2.0 millimag per one-minute interval. The declination of XO-4 places it within the continuous viewing zone of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), which permits observation without interruption caused by occultation by the Earth. Because the stellar rotation periods of the three hottest stars orbited by transiting gas-giant planets are 2.0, 1.1, and 2.0 times the planetary orbital periods, we note the possibility of resonant interaction.

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XO-5b: A Transiting Jupiter-sized Planet With A Four Day Period

The star XO-5 (GSC 02959-00729, V=12.1, G8V) hosts a Jupiter-sized, Rp=1.15+/-0.12 Rjup, transiting extrasolar planet, XO-5b, with an orbital period of P=4.187732+/-0.00002 days. The planet mass (Mp=1.15+/-0.08 Mjup) and surface gravity (gp=22+/-5 m/s^2) are significantly larger than expected by empirical Mp-P and Mp-P-[Fe/H] relationships. However, the deviation from the Mp-P relationship for XO-5b is not large enough to suggest a distinct type of planet as is suggested for GJ 436b, HAT-P-2b, and XO-3b. By coincidence XO-5 overlies the extreme H I plume that emanates from the interacting galaxy pair NGC 2444/NGC 2445 (Arp 143).

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The Transit Light Curve Project. IX. Evidence for a Smaller Radius of the Exoplanet XO-3b

We present photometry of 13 transits of XO-3b, a massive transiting planet on an eccentric orbit. Previous data led to two inconsistent estimates of the planetary radius. Our data strongly favor the smaller radius, with increased precision: R_p = 1.217 +/- 0.073 R_Jup. A conflict remains between the mean stellar density determined from the light curve, and the stellar surface gravity determined from the shapes of spectral lines. We argue the light curve should take precedence, and revise the system parameters accordingly. The planetary radius is about 1 sigma larger than the theoretical radius for a hydrogen-helium planet of the given mass and insolation. To help in planning future observations, we provide refined transit and occultation ephemerides.

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Characterizing the Near-UV Environment of M Dwarfs

We report the results of our HST snapshot survey with the ACS HRC PR200L prism, designed to measure the near-UV emission in a sample of nearby M dwarfs. 33 stars were observed, spanning the mass range from 0.1 - 0.6 solar masses (T_eff ~ 2200K - 4000K) where the UV energy distributions vary widely between active and inactive stars. These observations provide much-needed constraints on models of the habitability zone and the atmospheres of possible terrestrial planets orbiting M dwarf hosts, and will be useful in refining the target selection for future space missions such as TPF. We compare our data with a new generation of M dwarf atmospheric models and discuss their implication for the chromospheric energy budget. These NUV data will also be valuable in conjunction with existing optical, FUV and X-ray data to explore unanswered questions regarding the dynamo generation and magnetic heating in low-mass stars.

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