X-ray Spectroscopy of the Nearby, Classical T Tauri Star TW Hya

Abstract

We present ASCA and ROSAT X-ray observations of the classical T Tauri star TW Hya, the namesake of a small association that, at a distance of ~ 50 pc, represents the nearest known region of recent star formation. Analysis of ASCA and ROSAT spectra indicates characteristic temperatures of ~ 1.7 MK and ~ 9.7 MK for the X-ray emitting region(s) of TW Hya, with emission lines of highly ionized Fe dominating the spectrum at energies ~1 keV. The X-ray data show variations in X-ray flux on <~ 1 hr timescales as well as indications of changes in X-ray absorbing column on timescales of several years, suggesting that flares and variable obscuration are responsible for the large amplitude optical variability of TW Hya on short and long timescales, respectively. The ASCA spectra of TW Hya, which is ~ 20 Myr old, has a mass of ~ 0.7 M_sun, and is surrounded by a dusty circumstellar disk, offer perhaps the best indication yet of the X-ray spectrum of the young Sun during the epoch of Jovian planet building. Comparison with model calculations suggests that TW Hya produces sufficient hard X-ray flux to produce significant ionization of molecular gas within its circumstellar disk; such X-ray ionization may regulate both protoplanetary accretion and protoplanetary chemistry.