Full orbital solutions in pre-main sequence high-order multiple systems: GG Tau Ab and UX Tau B

¹ Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38000 Grenoble, France
e-mail: gaspard.duchene@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr
² Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
³ European Southern Observatory (ESO), Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, 85748 Garching bei Munchen, Germany
⁴ CRAL, UMR 5574, CNRS, Université de Lyon, ENS, 9 avenue Charles André, 69561 Saint-Genis-Laval Cedex, France

Received: 27 November 2023
Accepted: 1 April 2024

Abstract

Context. High-order multiple (triple and beyond) systems are relatively common. Their interaction with circumstellar and circumbinary material can have a large impact on the formation and evolution of planetary systems and depends on their orbital properties.

Aims. GG Tau and UX Tau are two pre-main sequence high-order multiple systems in which the tightest pair has a projected separation of ≈5–20 au. Characterizing precisely their orbits is crucial to establish their long-term stability, to predict the dynamics and evolution of circumstellar matter, and to evaluate the potential for planet formation in such systems.

Methods. We combine existing astrometric measurements with previously unpublished high-resolution observations of the GG Tau Ab and UX Tau B pairs and perform Keplerian orbital fits.

Results. For GG Tau Ab the data presented here represent the first detection of orbital motion. For both systems they yield dramatic increases in orbital coverage (≳60% and ≈100% for UX Tau B and GG Tau Ab, for orbital periods of ≈32 and ≈8 yr, respectively) and allow us to obtain well-constrained orbital fits, including dynamical masses with ≲10% and ≲7% random and systematic uncertainties. We find that both GG Tau A and UX Tau A–B likely form stable hierarchical systems, although one possible deprojection solution for GG Tau is strongly misaligned and could experience von Zeipel-Lidov-Kozai oscillations. We further find that the UX Tau B orbit is much more eccentric than the GG Tau Ab one, possibly explaining the lack of circumstellar material in the former.

Conclusions. The newly-determined orbits revive the question of the dynamical fate of gas and dust in these two hierarchical systems and should spur new dedicated simulations to assess the long-term evolution of the systems and the dynamical perturbations imposed by the close binaries they host.