Taurus-Auriga Association

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Taurus-Auriga Association

The Taurus–Auriga Association is a nearby young stellar grouping in the constellations Taurus and Auriga notable for its population of pre–main-sequence stars, protostars, and molecular clouds. The region has been a focus of observational campaigns by facilities such as the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Chandra X-ray Observatory, and has influenced theoretical work from researchers at institutions including the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, and Space Telescope Science Institute.

Overview

The association lies near classical targets like the T Tauri star prototype T Tauri and the dark clouds cataloged by Edward Emerson Barnard (e.g., Barnard 18), and has been mapped by surveys including the Two Micron All Sky Survey, Gaia, and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite. Studies by teams at California Institute of Technology, University of Cambridge, University of Tokyo, and University of California, Berkeley have used instruments from Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array to the Very Large Array to characterize the association’s structure. The region’s relevance touches work by theorists such as Frank Shu and observers like Lynne Hillenbrand and Lee Hartmann.

Members span classical T Tauri stars, weak-lined T Tauri stars, and embedded Class 0/I protostars; catalog efforts by the Infrared Space Observatory, Spitzer Space Telescope, and ground teams at Palomar Observatory and Kitt Peak National Observatory identified populations near clouds like L1495 and Heiles Cloud 2. Surveys cross-matched sources from ROSAT X-ray catalogs with optical spectroscopy from Keck Observatory and Very Large Telescope programs led by groups at University of Arizona and University of Leicester. Subgroups include clustered regions associated with HL Tau, LkCa 15, and CIDA-1, while associations with sources such as IRAS 04302+2247 and DG Tau emphasize diverse evolutionary stages catalogued by teams at Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy.

The association occupies parts of the Taurus Molecular Cloud, including filaments identified by James Clerk Maxwell Telescope and Herschel Space Observatory imaging, and contains dense cores traced in CO by surveys from NRAO and Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique. Star formation links to feedback processes studied in contexts like Orion Nebula comparisons and models developed by groups at Princeton University and ETH Zurich. Embedded protostars such as IRAS 04325+2402 and jets like those from HH 30 and HH 211 have been imaged by ALMA and analyzed in papers from University of Colorado Boulder and National Radio Astronomy Observatory teams.

Parallax and proper motion from Gaia Data Release 2 and follow-up by Hipparcos have refined distances near 120–160 pc; kinematic studies employ radial velocities from Sloan Digital Sky Survey and high-resolution spectroscopy from Subaru Telescope and Magellan Telescopes. Dynamical analyses reference frameworks applied to clusters like Pleiades and associations like Upper Scorpius and involve collaborations from European Southern Observatory and Royal Observatory Edinburgh. Moving group membership criteria are compared with catalogs from RAdial Velocity Experiment and teams at University of Geneva.

Disks around sources such as HL Tau, LkCa 15, DM Tau, and AA Tau have provided key images and spectra for models by groups at Institute for Advanced Study, University of Cambridge, and University of Michigan. ALMA and Submillimeter Array observations revealed substructure analogous to systems studied around HL Tauri and PDS 70; disk chemistry comparisons involve studies at Leiden Observatory and Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. Candidate protoplanets and transition disks have been investigated using facilities like Keck Observatory and Gemini Observatory with modeling influenced by researchers at University of California, Santa Cruz and Universitat de Barcelona.

Age estimates (1–10 Myr) derive from Hertzsprung–Russell diagram placement relative to pre–main-sequence tracks by authors from University of Exeter and University of Arizona. Lithium depletion patterns in young stars were characterized in spectroscopic surveys from ESO Very Large Telescope and Keck Observatory, linking to theoretical work by Baraffe and Siess evolutionary models. Comparative studies reference coeval groups like Beta Pictoris moving group and TW Hydrae Association in analyses by teams at University of Sydney and University of Hawaii.

Well-studied members include T Tauri, HL Tau, HL Tau Disk, LkCa 15, AA Tau, DM Tau, DG Tau, RY Tau, CW Tau, Haro 6-13, Haro 6-5B, IRAS 04302+2247, DG Tau B, CoKu Tau/4, UX Tau, V410 Tau, HBC 427, V773 Tau, HP Tau, HQ Tau, RW Aurigae, RY Lupi, DR Tau, XZ Tau, Haro 6-37, CIDA-1, IRAS 04158+2805, IRAS 04325+2402, Haro 6-5, Haro 6-13 A, Haro 6-13 B, GH Tau, IS Tau, LkHα 332/G1, L1551 IRS 5, TMC-1A, TMC-1, B5-IRS1, IRAM 04191+1522, Haro 6-28, Haro 6-33, HH 30, HH 154, HH 211, Barnard 18; observational campaigns include programs by Spitzer Science Center, Hubble Heritage Project, ALMA Partnership, European Space Agency, NASA, National Science Foundation, Konkoly Observatory, Institute of Astronomy (Cambridge), and surveys like Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Two Micron All Sky Survey.

Category:Star forming regions