We present the discovery of 130.87 day periodic near-infrared flux variability for the Class II T Tauri star WL 4 (=2MASS J16271848-2429059, ISO-Oph 128). Our data are from the 2MASS Calibration Point Source Working Database and constitute 1580 observations in J, H, and Ks of a field in ρ Ophiuchus used to calibrate the 2MASS All-Sky Survey. We identify a light curve for WL 4 with eclipse amplitudes of ~0.4 mag lasting more than one-quarter the period and color variations in J-H and H-Ks of ~0.1 mag. The long period cannot be explained by stellar rotation. We propose that WL 4 is a triple YSO system, with an inner binary orbital period of 130.87 days. We posulate that we are observing each component of the inner binary alternately being eclipsed by a circumbinary disk with respect to our line of sight. This system will be useful in investigating terrestrial-zone YSO disk properties and dynamics at ~1 Myr.
CITATION STYLE
Plavchan, P., Gee, A. H., Stapelfeldt, K., & Becker, A. (2008). The Peculiar Periodic YSO WL 4 in ρ Ophiuchus. The Astrophysical Journal, 684(1), L37–L40. https://doi.org/10.1086/592107
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