We consider the problem of the distortion of the photospheric spectrum for a young star as its light is scattered in the inner accretion disk in the dust grain evaporation region. In T Tauri stars, this region is at a distance of the order of several stellar radii and is involved in the large-scale motions of matter with velocities of ∼100 km s-1 or higher. The light scattering in such a medium causes the frequency of the scattered radiation to be shifted due to the Doppler effect. We analyze the influence of this effect on the absorption line profiles in the spectra of T Tauri stars using classical results of the theory of radiative transfer. We consider two models of a scattering medium: (i) a homogeneous cylindrical surface and (ii) a cylindrical surface with an azimuth-dependent height (such conditions take place during the accretion of matter onto a star with an oblique magnetic dipole). We show that in the first case, the scattering of the photospheric radiation causes the absorption lines to broaden. If the motion of the circumstellar matter in the dust evaporation region is characterized by two velocity components, then the line profile of the scattered radiation is asymmetric, with the pattern of the asymmetry depending on the direction of the radial velocity. In the second case, the scattered radiation can cause periodic shifts of the absorption line centroid, which can be perceived by an observer as periodic radial-velocity variations in the star. We suggest that precisely this effect is responsible for the low-amplitude radial-velocity variations with periods close to the stellar rotation periods that have recently been found in some of the T Tauri stars.

Translated title of the contributionРассеянное излучение движущимися частицами пыли в ближайших окрестностях молодых звезд
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)110-119
Number of pages10
JournalAstronomy Letters
Volume32
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2006

    Research areas

  • Scattered radiation, Stars - variable and peculiar, T Tauri stars

    Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

ID: 87425758