Rotational and Orbital Angular Momentum Evolution: From Self-Embedded Protostars to T-Tauri Stars

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AST 0206146PI: Mary BarsonyAn understanding of the processes by which stars and planets form remains one of the fundamental goals of astronomy and astrophysics. Although the broad outline of the process has become clear, much remains unexplained, particularly concerning rotational and orbital angular momentum evolution during the pre-main-sequence lifetime of young stellar objects. How and why do multiple systems form from a single infall envelope? What physical mechanisms regulate the rotation rates of young stellar objects? How do rotational velocities evolve with pre-main-sequence evolutionary state? The PI will carry out two major projects to address these questions: 1) a dedicated, comprehensive program for the determination of protostellar rotational periods via near-infrared photometric monitoring to obtain lightcurves, and 2) a systematic near-and mid-infrared, high angular resolution survey of embedded young stellar objects in a single star-forming cloud to discover and characterize the evolution of binary/multiple systems over timescales of 100,000 to 1 million years. ***