Rocking shadows in broken circumbinary discs
Abstract
We use three-dimensional simulations with coupled hydrodynamics and Monte Carlo radiative transfer to show that shadows cast by the inner disc in broken circumbinary discs move within a confined range of position angles on the outer disc. Over time, shadows appear to rock back and forth in azimuth as the inner disc precesses. The effect occurs because the inner disc precesses around a vector that is not the angular momentum vector of the outer disc. We relate our findings to recent observations of shadows in discs.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- March 2020
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnrasl/slaa026
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2002.02983
- Bibcode:
- 2020MNRAS.493L.143N
- Keywords:
-
- hydrodynamics;
- radiative transfer;
- methods: numerical;
- protoplanetary discs;
- binaries: close;
- stars: kinematics and dynamics;
- Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics;
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 5 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters. Movie of figure 1 available at https://youtu.be/jGYLuEx-I78