X-raying the beating heart of a newborn star: Rotational modulation of high-energy radiation from V1647 Ori

Abstract

We report a periodicity of ∼1day in the highly elevated X-ray emission from the protostar V1647 Ori during its two recent multiple-year outbursts of mass accretion. This periodicity is indicative of protostellar rotation at near-break-up speed. Modeling of the phased X-ray light curve indicates that the high-temperature (∼50MK), X-ray-emitting plasma, which is most likely heated by accretion-induced magnetic reconnection, resides in dense (≳ 5 × 1010cm-3), pancake-shaped magnetic footprints where the accretion stream feeds the newborn star. The sustained X-ray periodicity of V1647 Ori demonstrates that such protostellar magnetospheric accretion configurations can be stable over timescales of years. © 2012. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.