A Survey of Young Stars in Taurus for Multiplicity

Abstract

AbstractWe surveyed all stars in Taurus (3h 45m < α < 4h 15m, 15° < δ < 35°) for multiplicity which are contained in the Herbig-Bell catalogue of young stars and have a 2 micron brightness of K ≤ 9.5 mag. This sample consists of 106 stellar systems (single or multiple), of which 43 are double or multiple according to the criteria of our survey, i.e. with separations of ≈0″.2 ≤ d ≤ 10″. Of these, 23 binaries are new detections found in this survey. The resulting degree of multiplicity, 43/106 = 41±6%, is higher than found for main-sequence stars. Provided that the period distribution is the same for young stars as on the main sequence, our result implies that the vast majority of stars are born in binary or multiple systems.