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Encyclopedia of Astrobiology pp 1Cite as

YY Orionis Star

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Definition

One of the characteristics of T Tauri stars is the generation of powerful winds. These winds are found spectroscopically, through the presence of a blue-shifted absorption dip in an optically thick emission line. Such lines are said to have P Cygni profiles. In YY Orionis stars, some lines have inverse P Cygni profiles. That is, the dip occurs in the red part of the spectrum, a signature that relatively cool gas is falling toward the star. From the types of lines in which the two different profiles appear, it seems that material close to the star is falling onto it while gas farther out is moving in a wind. A large fraction of classical T Tauri stars exhibit this complex behavior.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Astronomy, University of California, 94720, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Steven W. Stahler

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  1. Steven W. Stahler
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Correspondence to Steven W. Stahler .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Stahler, S.W. (2014). YY Orionis Star. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1701-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1701-5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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