Binary Stars and their Planet-Forming Disks

The majority of stars in our Galaxy reside in binary or higher order multiple systems. This can have profound effects on the evolution of the stars and in particular their circumstellar disks and the planet formation therein. In this poster we address several fundamental questions: how do circumstellar disks in binaries evolve, are these disks stable, and are their properties favorable for planet formation? To address these topics, our team is completing a spectroscopic survey of over 100 binary systems in young, nearby star forming regions, including Taurus Auriga, using the Keck II and Discovery Channel Telescopes. Our goal is to analyze these spectra to infer the properties of the stars themselves, as well as their constituent disks. To accomplish this, we generate synthetic spectra with a wide range of effective temperatures, surface gravities, rotational velocities, radial velocities, veiling, and magnetic field strengths for comparison with our target spectra. We present some preliminary results and a discussion of their consequences with respect to the evolution of these systems. This research was supported in part by NSF awards AST-1313399 and AST-1518081 and by NASA Keck KPDA funds.