Periodic Photometric Variability in the Becklin-Neugebauer Object

Authors

Lynne A. Hillenbrand, California Institute of Technology
John M. Carpenter, California Institute of Technology
Michael F. Skrutskie, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

Publication Date

2001

Journal or Book Title

The Astrophysical Journal

Abstract

The Becklin-Neugebauer (BN) object in the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC) is a well-studied optically invisible, infrared-bright young stellar object, thought to be an intermediate-mass protostar. We report here that BN exhibited nearly-sinusoidal periodic variability at the near-infrared H- and Ks-bands during a one month observing campaign in 2000 March/April. The period was 8.28 days and the peak-to-peak amplitude ~0.2 mag. Plausible mechanisms for producing the observed variability characteristics are explored.

Comments

This is a pre-published version which is collected from arXiv. The published version is at http://iopscience.iop.org/1538-4357/547/1/L53/fulltext.

Pages

L53-L56

Recommended Citation

Hillenbrand, Lynne A.; Carpenter, John M.; and Skrutskie, Michael F., "Periodic Photometric Variability in the Becklin-Neugebauer Object" (2001). The Astrophysical Journal. 96.
Retrieved from https://scholarworks.umass.edu/astro_faculty_pubs/96