The Mean Magnetic Field Strength of CI Tau

Abstract

We present a blind comparison of two methods to measure the mean surface magnetic field strength of the classical T Tauri star CI Tau based on Zeeman broadening of sensitive spectral lines. Our approach takes advantage of the greater Zeeman broadening at near-infrared compared to optical wavelengths. We analyze a high signal-to-noise, high spectral resolution spectrum from 1.5 to 2.5 μ m observed with IGRINS (Immersion GRating INfrared Spectrometer) on the Discovery Channel Telescope. Both stellar parameterization with MoogStokes (which assumes a uniform magnetic field) and modeling with SYNTHMAG (which includes a distribution of magnetic field strengths) yield consistent measurements for the mean magnetic field strength of CI Tau is B of ∼2.2 kG. This value is typical compared with measurements for other young T Tauri stars and provides an important contribution to the existing sample given that it is the only known developed planetary system hosted by a young classical T Tauri star. Moreover, we potentially identify an interesting and suggestive trend when plotting the effective temperature and the mean magnetic field strength of T Tauri stars. While a larger sample is needed for confirmation, this trend only appears for a subset of the sample, which may have implications regarding the magnetic field generation.