Sat, 02/27/2021 - 17:12
Hello! I have a rather unusual question, I am studying Tau Tauri stars, and would like to know more about them, other than google or Wikipedia will give me, I have rather little understanding but that they are variable stars, and that they have a variable 4 day cycle, my question here would be, is there a tool or some calculator to calculate (even a formula) the rate of pulses based on mass, makeup(metal or not) , size, age?
Again sorry if this is a silly question.
Daniel
From the AAVSO home page you'll see a link to observing sections. From there you can go to the Young Stellar Object (YSO) observing section to find more info on these stars.
T Tauri stars are not pulsators, but young stars which still have their proto-planetary discs and the light variations are due to the interaction between the star and the disc. This class of star is out of my area of expertise, but others like Michael Poxon will likely weight in. But the YSO page would be a god start.
The February 2021 issue of Sky and Telescope Magazine had a nice overview article of T Tauri stars by Ken Croswell.
Not a silly…
Hi Daniel,
Not a silly question at all! As promised, I am weighing in! ;-)
T tauri stars will eventually end up like the Sun - which was itself a T tauri type star about 4.5 billion years ago! T Tauri itself (not tau Tauri, which is a non-variable star though coincidentally appearing (in the sky) to be in a major star-forming area)
T Tauri itself is easy with even a small telescope and as a rule one observation a week is sufficient, as its variations are fairly gentle, unlike some other young variables!It normally goes between about mags 10 and 11. There are several other YSOs (young variables) close by that are also accessible with small-to-modest scopes. One of my favourites is CQ Tau, which can show very rapid light changes, as can RR Tau close by. Observe these two every clear night. RY Tau is another young variable, this time actually not far from tau Tauri!
I produce a monthly newsletter for the Young Stellar Objects section. If you want to be on the mailing list for it, go to the 'Observing Sections' part of the AAVSO page from where you can register to get the newsletter (free and painless)
Mike (YSO section leader)