X-ray Observations of LkCa 15: A T Tauri Star Hosting a Protoplanetary System

A suspected protoplanet in the dust-depleted inner disk gap of the T Tauri star LkCa 15 was reported by Kraus & Ireland (2012). More recent ground-based images strikingly confirm their result and provide tantalizing evidence that as many as three protoplanets may be orbiting within 20 AU of the star. LkCa 15 is quite young (age 1-4 Myr) and the protoplanets may still be accreting. We present results of X-ray observations of LkCa 15 obtained with XMM-Newton. These observations confirm that LkCa 15 is a bright X-ray source, as inferred from an earlier 2009 Chandra observation. We will discuss the X-ray spectral and timing properties of LkCa 15 and implications of its bright X-ray emission for physical conditions in the inner disk where the protoplanets are forming.