Pre--Main-Sequence Disk Accretion in Z Canis Majoris
Kenyon, S. J.; Stauffer, J. R.; Edwards, S.; Hartmann, L.; Strom, S. E.; Hewett, R.; Strom, K. M.
United States
Abstract
It is suggested that the pre-main-sequence object Z CMa is a luminous accretion disk, similar in many respects to the FU Orionis variables. Z CMa shows the broad, doubled optical absorption lines expected from a rapidly rotating accretion disk. The first overtone CO absorption detected in Z CMa is blue-shifted, suggesting line formation in a disk wind. Accretion at rates about 0.001 solar mass/yr over 100 yr is required to explain the luminosity of Z CMa. The large amount of material accreted (0.1 solar mass/yr) indicates that Z CMa is in a very early stage of stellar evolution, possibly in an initial phase of massive disk accretion.