Issue |
A&A
Volume 648, April 2021
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | A81 | |
Number of page(s) | 10 | |
Section | Astrophysical processes | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202040036 | |
Published online | 16 April 2021 |
Inferring possible magnetic field strength of accreting inflows in EXor-type objects from scaled laboratory experiments
1
LULI – CNRS, CEA, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, Sorbonne Université, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, 91128 Palaiseau Cedex, France
e-mail: konstantin.burdonov@polytechnique.edu
2
Sorbonne Université, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, LERMA, CNRS UMR 8112, 75005 Paris, France
3
IAP, Russian Academy of Sciences, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
4
INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo, Piazza del Parlamento 1, 90134 Palermo, Italy
5
INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Via Frascati 33, 00078 Monteporzio Catone, Italy
6
Department of Physics and Chemistry, University of Palermo, 90133 Palermo, Italy
7
LNCMI, UPR 3228, CNRS-UGA-UPS-INSA, 31400 Toulouse, France
8
ELI-NP, ‘Horia Hulubei’ National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering, 30 Reactorului Street, 077125 Bucharest-Magurele, Romania
9
National Research Nuclear University “MEPhI”, 115409 Moscow, Russia
10
Joint Institute for High Temperatures, RAS, 125412 Moscow, Russia
Received:
1
December
2020
Accepted:
6
February
2021
Aims. EXor-type objects are protostars that display powerful UV-optical outbursts caused by intermittent and powerful events of magnetospheric accretion. These objects are not yet well investigated and are quite difficult to characterize. Several parameters, such as plasma stream velocities, characteristic densities, and temperatures, can be retrieved from present observations. As of yet, however, there is no information about the magnetic field values and the exact underlying accretion scenario is also under discussion.
Methods. We use laboratory plasmas, created by a high power laser impacting a solid target or by a plasma gun injector, and make these plasmas propagate perpendicularly to a strong external magnetic field. The propagating plasmas are found to be well scaled to the presently inferred parameters of EXor-type accretion event, thus allowing us to study the behaviour of such episodic accretion processes in scaled conditions.
Results. We propose a scenario of additional matter accretion in the equatorial plane, which claims to explain the increased accretion rates of the EXor objects, supported by the experimental demonstration of effective plasma propagation across the magnetic field. In particular, our laboratory investigation allows us to determine that the field strength in the accretion stream of EXor objects, in a position intermediate between the truncation radius and the stellar surface, should be of the order of 100 G. This, in turn, suggests a field strength of a few kilogausses on the stellar surface, which is similar to values inferred from observations of classical T Tauri stars.
Key words: accretion, accretion disks / instabilities / magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) / stars: pre-main sequence / shock waves / stars: individual: V1118 Ori
© K. Burdonov et al. 2021
Open Access article, published by EDP Sciences, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Current usage metrics show cumulative count of Article Views (full-text article views including HTML views, PDF and ePub downloads, according to the available data) and Abstracts Views on Vision4Press platform.
Data correspond to usage on the plateform after 2015. The current usage metrics is available 48-96 hours after online publication and is updated daily on week days.
Initial download of the metrics may take a while.