Misalignment of the outer disk of DK Tau and a first look at its magnetic field using spectropolarimetry
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Context. Misalignments between a forming star’s rotation axis and its outer disk axis, although not predicted by standard theories of stellar formation, have been observed in several classical T Tauri stars (cTTs). The low-mass cTTs DK Tau is suspected of being among them. In addition, it is an excellent subject to investigate the interaction between stellar magnetic fields and material accreting from the circumstellar disk, as it presents clear signatures of accretion. Aims. The goal of this paper is to study DK Tau’s average line-of-sight magnetic field in both photospheric absorption lines and emission lines linked to accretion, using spectropolarimetric observations, as well as to examine inconsistencies regarding its rotation axis. Methods. We used data collected with the ESPaDOnS spectropolarimeter, at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, and the NARVAL spectropolarimeter, at the Télescope Bernard Lyot, probing two distinct epochs (December 2010 to January 2011 and November to December 2012), each set spanning a few stellar rotation cycles. We first determined the stellar parameters of DK Tau, such as effective temperature and vsini. Next, we removed the effect of veiling from the spectra, then obtained least-squares deconvolution (LSD) profiles of the photospheric absorption lines for each observation, before determining the average line-of-sight magnetic field from them. We also investigated accretion-powered emission lines, namely the 587.6 nm HeI line and the CaII infrared triplet (at 849.8 nm, 854.2 nm and 866.2 nm), as tracers of the magnetic fields present in the accretion shocks. Results. We find that DK Tau experiences accretion onto a magnetic pole at an angle of ∼30° from the pole of its rotation axis, with a positive field at the base of the accretion funnels. In 2010 we find a magnetic field of up to 0.95 kG (from the CaII infrared triplet) and 1.77 kG (from the HeI line) and in 2012 we find up to 1.15 kG (from the CaII infrared triplet) and 1.99 kG (from the HeI line). Additionally, using our derived values of period, vsini and stellar radius, we find a value of 58° (+18)(−11) for the inclination of the stellar rotation axis, which is significantly different from the outer disk axis inclination of 21° given in the literature. Conclusion. We find that DK Tau’s outer disk axis is likely misaligned compared to its rotation axis by 37°.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".