A runaway T Tauri star leaving an extended trail

¹ Departamento de Física, Escuela Politécnica Superior de Jaén, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas s/n, A3-420, 23071 Jaén, Spain
e-mail: jmarti@ujaen.es
² Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica y Minera, Escuela Politécnica Superior de Jaén, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas s/n, A3-008, 23071 Jaén, Spain
³ Departamento de Ciencias Integradas, Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Física, Matemática y Computación, Universidad de Huelva, 21071 Huelva, Spain
⁴ Grupo de Investigación FQM-322, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas s/n, A3-065, 23071 Jaén, Spain

Received: 11 October 2022
Accepted: 16 March 2023

Abstract

Aims. We address the problem of young stellar objects that are found too far away from possible star formation sites. Different mechanisms have been proposed before to explain this unexpected circumstance. The idea of high-velocity protostars is one of these mechanisms, although observational support is not always easy to obtain. We aim to shed light on this issue after the serendipitous discovery of a related stellar system.

Methods. Following the inspection of archival infrared data, a peculiar anonymous star was found that apparently heads a long tail that resembles a wake-like feature. We conducted a multiwavelength analysis including photometry, astrometry, and spectroscopy. Together with theoretical physical considerations, this approach provided a reasonable knowledge of the stellar age and kinematic properties, together with compelling indications that the extended feature is indeed the signature of a high-velocity, or runaway, newborn star.

Results. Our main result is the discovery of a low-mass young stellar object that fits the concept of a runaway T Tauri star that was hypothesized several decades ago. In this peculiar star, nicknamed UJT-1, the interaction of the stellar wind with the surrounding medium becomes extreme. Under reasonable assumptions, this unusual degree of interaction has the potential to encode the mass-loss history of the star on timescales of several ∼10⁵ years.