Low-mass, pre-main sequence stars possess intense high-energy radiation fields as a result of their strong stellar magnetic activity. This stellar UV and X-ray radiation may have a profound impact on the lifetimes of protoplanetary disks. We aim to constrain the X-ray-induced photoevaporation rates of protoplanetary disks orbiting low-mass stars by analyzing serendipitous XMM-Newton and Chandra X-ray observations of candidate nearby (D < 100 pc), young (age < 100 Myr) M stars identified in the GALEX Nearby Young-Star Survey (GALNYSS).

Using time-series photometry from the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT) exoplanet survey, we are looking for eclipses of stars by their protoplanetary disks, specifically in young stellar associations. To date, we have discovered two previously unknown, large dimming events around the young stars RW Aurigae and V409 Tau. We attribute the dimming of RW Aurigae to an occultation by its tidally disrupted disk, with the disruption perhaps resulting from a recent flyby of its binary companion. Even with the dynamical environment of RW Aurigae, the distorted disk material remains very compact and presumably capable of forming planets. This system also shows that strong binary interactions with disks can also influence planet and core composition by stirring up and mixing materials during planet formation. We interpret the dimming of V409 Tau to be due to a feature, possibly a warp or perturbation, lying at least 10 AU from the host star in its nearly edge-on circumstellar disk.

We present the stellar parameters and lithium abundance for 23 stars of the young stellar association AB Doradus, determined by photometry and spectroscopy. The photometric data was obtained at OPD/LNA and/or from the literature and the spectroscopic data was obtained at La silla/ESO and at OPD/LNA. The parameters were determined using photometric calibrations, line ratios, curves of growth and spectral synthesis. Our results confirm that the selected stars are probably association members, showing an uniform metallicity and lithium depletion consistent with 50 Myears

One of the most interesting constraints on star formation models comes from the study of multiplicity of young stars as a function of mass. While multiplicity studies of low-mass T Tauri stars have been quite exhaustive, an unbiased and systematic investigation of multiplicity among intermediate-mass Herbig Ae/Be (HAEBE) stars is still lacking. We are therefore conducting a photometric and spectroscopic survey of HAEBE stars to detect companions, establish their physical association with the primary and investigate their properties. The frequency and degree of multiplicity of HAEBE systems will provide new constraints on their formation mechanisms. In this paper we present preliminary results of the high resolution imaging part of the survey, carried out with the adaptive optics system Altair-NIRI on Gemini North. Of 72 stars observed, we find 44 possible binaries or multiples, including at least 25 not previously known.

The Teff location of Pre-Main Sequence (PMS) evolutionary tracks depends on the treatment of over-adiabaticity. We present here the PMS evolutionary tracks computed by using the mixing length theory of convection (MLT) in which the αMLT = l/Hp parameter calibration is based on 2D–hydrodynamical models (Ludwig et al. 1999). These MLT–α2D stellar models and tracks are very similar to those computed with non–grey ATLAS9 atmospheric boundary conditions and Full Spectrum of Turbulence (FST) convection model both in the atmosphere and in the interior. As for the FST models, the comparison of the new tracks with the location on the HR diagram of pre–MS binaries is not completely satisfactory; and the pre–MS lithium depletion in the MLT–α2D tracks is still much larger than that expected from the observations of lithium in young open clusters. Thus, in spite of the fact that 2D RHD models should provide a better convection description than any local model, their introduction is not sufficient to reconcile theory and observations. Lithium depletion in young clusters points towards a convection efficiency which, in pre–MS, should be smaller than in the MS.

I report X-ray features of young stage of intermediate and high mass stars. The giant molecular cloud Sagittarius B2 (Sgr B2) exhibits more than dozen X-ray sources, two are associated with the ultra compact (UC) HII complex, Sgr B2 Main. The sources show large absorption of $\gg$1023 Hcm−2, the largest among any known stellar X-ray sources.

The Arches cluster exhibits 3 extremely bright (a few $\times10^{33}$ ergs s−1) X-ray sources associated with the infrared (IR) massive stars. The X-ray spectra have 1-3 keV temperature in thin thermal model. Elongated diffuse 6.4 keV line emission is found.

The Monoceros R2 cloud exhibits half dozen X-ray sources associated with young high-mass IR stars. They show rapid time variability and a thin thermal spectrum of ${\sim }2$ keV temperature. Among 28 ASC A pointing on intermediate-mass pre-main-sequence stars, or Herbig Ae/Be stars (HAeBes), eleven are found to be plausible X-ray sources. The general X-ray properties of these HAeBes are; (1) the plasma temperature and time variability are higher than those of high mass main-sequence stars, and more similar to low mass stars; (2) the X-ray luminosities come to the upper end of low mass pre-main sequence stars, or in some cases exceed that; (3) the X-ray activity of HAeBe decreases at the age of about a few×106 years.

Using above observational facts, I propose a unified picture of X-ray activity of young stars in the wide mass range.

We compile most recent multiplicity fractions and binary separation distributions for different primary masses, including very low-mass and brown dwarf primaries, and compare them with dynamical decay models of small-N clusters. The model predictions are based on detailed numerical calculations of the internal cluster dynamics, as well as on Monte-Carlo methods. Both observations and models reflect the same trends: (1) The multiplicity fraction is an increasing function of the primary mass. (2) The mean binary separations are increasing with the system mass in the sense that very low-mass binaries have average separations around ≈ 4AU, while the binary separation distribution for solar-type primaries peaks at ≈ 40AU. M-type binary systems apparently preferentially populate intermediate separations. Similar specific energy at the time of cluster formation for all cluster masses can possibly explain this trend.

The statistics of stellar systems of multiplicity three and higher is reviewed. They are frequent, 0.15−0.25 of all stellar systems. Some 700 multiples are expected among the 3383 stars of spectral type F, G, and K within 50 pc, while only 76 of them are actually known. Many (if not all) close binaries have distant tertiary components, indicating that angular momentum exchange within multiple systems was probably critical in forming short-period binaries. The ratio of outer to inner periods in the best-studied nearby multiples and in low-mass pre-main sequence multiples does not exceed 104 at the formation epoch; larger ratios are produced by subsequent orbital evolution. All multiples with well-defined orbits are dynamically stable, the eccentricities of outer orbits obey the empirical stability limit Pout(1 – eout)3/Pin > 5 that is more strict than current theoretical limits. Relative orientation of orbits in triple stars shows some degree of alignment, especially in weakly-hierarchical systems. The statistics support the idea that most multiple stars originated from dynamical interactions in small clusters.

Using high-resolution (~ 01), multi-epoch Very Large Array observations, we have detected orbital motions in several low-luminosity protobinary systems in the Taurus and ρ Ophiuchus molecular complexes. The masses obtained from Kepler’s third law are of the order of 0.5 to 2 M⊙, as expected for such low-mass protostars. The relatively large bolometric luminosities of these young systems corroborates the notion that protostars obtain most of their luminosity from accretion and not from nuclear reactions. In addition, in one of the sources studied (a multiple system in Taurus), a low-mass young star has shown a drastic change in its orbit after a close approach with another component of the system, presumed to be a double star. The large proper motion achieved by this low mass protostar (20 km s−1), suggests an ejection from the system.

Using high angular resolution (~ 03) Very Large Array (VLA) observations made at 3.6 cm during the period 1990 to 2002, we report the detection of proper motions in the components of the binary source YLW 15. We find absolute proper motions of the order of 15 km s-1. In addition, the relative astrometry between the two components reveals orbital proper motions that suggest that the total mass of this binary system is ~ 1.7 M⊙, and that VLA 1 is more massive than VLA 2.

We discuss theoretical aspects of binary and multiple star formation, focusing on their formation in stellar clusters. First, we review individual processes that may occur during the formation of binary and multiple stars: fragmentation, accretion, interactions with circumstellar discs, and dynamical interactions. We then discuss the results from a recent large-scale hydrodynamical calculation of cluster formation in which all of these processes occur simultaneously, examining the formation mechanisms and resulting properties of the binary and multiple stars in this cluster.

We have reexamined accretion in a protobinary system with two dimensional numerical simulations. We consider protostars which rotate around the center of the mass with circular orbits. The accreting gas is assumed to flow in the orbital plane. It is injected from a circle whose radius is 5 times larger than the orbital separation of the binary. The injected gas has constant surface density, in fall velocity, and specific angular momentum. The accretion depends on the specific angular momentum of the injected gas, jinf. When jinf is small, the binary accretes the gas mainly through two channels: one through the Lagrangian point L2 and the other through L3. When jinf is large, the binary accretes the gas only through the L2 point. The primary accretes more than the secondary in both cases, although the L2 point is closer to the secondary. After flowing through the L2 point, the gas flows half around the secondary and through the L1 point to the primary. Only a small amount of gas flows back to the secondary and the rest forms a circumstellar ring around the primary. The accretion decreases the mass ratio, q = M2/M1, where M1 and M2 denote the masses of the primary and secondary, respectively. The accretion rate increases with time. When jinf is large, it is negligibly small in the first few rotation periods.