Am. Ghez et al., SPECKLE IMAGING MEASUREMENTS OF THE RELATIVE TANGENTIAL VELOCITIES OFTHE COMPONENTS OF T-TAURI BINARY STARS, The Astronomical journal, 110(2), 1995, pp. 753-765
Over a five year period, we have used speckle imaging to monitor 20 T
Tauri binary stars with separations ranging from 0 '' 09 to 1 '' (13-1
40 AU). This project is aimed at detecting the relative motion of the
component stars to ascertain whether or not the observed companions (1
) are stellar in nature, as opposed to being HH objects, and (2) are g
ravitationally bound to the primary stars. These observations demonstr
ate that speckle imaging measurements of close binary stars' separatio
ns can be made with an accuracy of a few milliarcseconds. The majority
of the observed systems show significant relative velocities which (1
) are not consistent with the motion expected for HH objects, (2) are
greater than the velocity dispersion of these star-forming regions and
thus are not the result of differential proper motion, and (3) are co
nsistent with orbital motion. This is the first demonstration that the
se systems are physically bound. Furthermore, these relative velocity
measurements provide dynamical evidence that the average total mass of
these T Tauri binary star systems is similar to 1.7 M(o). (C) 1995 Am
erican Astronomical Society.