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American Astronomical Society, Astrophysical Journal Letters, 1(763), p. L9, 2012

DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/763/1/l9

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High-resolution Infrared Imaging and Spectroscopy of the Z Canis Majoris System during Quiescence and Outburst

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

We present adaptive optics photometry and spectra in the JHKL-bands along with high spectral resolution K-band spectroscopy for each component of the Z Canis Majoris system. Our high angular resolution photometry of this very young (≾1 Myr) binary, comprised of an FU Ori object and a Herbig Ae/Be star, were gathered shortly after the 2008 outburst while our high resolution spectroscopy was gathered during a quiescent phase. Our photometry conclusively determine that the outburst was due solely to the embedded Herbig Ae/Be member, supporting results from earlier works, and that the optically visible FU Ori component decreased slightly (~30%) in luminosity during the same period, consistent with previous works on the variability of FU Ori type systems. Further, our high-resolution K-band spectra definitively demonstrate that the 2.294 μm CO absorption feature seen in composite spectra of the system is due solely to the FU Ori component, while a prominent CO emission feature at the same wavelength, long suspected to be associated with the innermost regions of a circumstellar accretion disk, can be assigned to the Herbig Ae/Be member. These findings are in contrast to previous analyses (e.g. Malbet et al. 2010; Benisty et al. 2010) of this complex system which assigned the CO emission to the FU Ori component.