Multiwavelength Observations of the RV Tauri Variable System U Monocerotis: Long-term Variability Phenomena That Can Be Explained by Binary Interactions with a Circumbinary Disk

Abstract

We present an X-ray through submillimeter observations of the classical RV Tauri (RVb-type) variable U Mon, a post-asymptotic giant branch (AGB) binary with a circumbinary disk (CBD). Our SMA observations indicate a CBD diameter of ≲550 au. Our XMM-Newton observations make U Mon the first RV Tauri variable detected in X-rays. The X-ray emission is characteristic of a hot plasma (∼10 MK), with L_X =5 × 10³⁰ erg s^-1, and we consider its possible origin from U Mon, its companion, and/or binary system interactions. Combining DASCH and AAVSO data, we extend the time-series photometric baseline back to the late 1880s and find evidence that U Mon has secular changes that appear to recur on a timescale of ∼60 yr, possibly caused by a feature in the CBD. From literature radial velocities we find that the binary companion is a ∼2 M_⊙ A-type main-sequence star. The orientation of the binary's orbit lies along our line of sight (ω = 95°), such that apastron corresponds to photometric RVb minima, consistent with the post-AGB star becoming obscured by the near side of the CBD. In addition, we find the size of the inner-CBD hole (∼4.5-9 au) to be comparable to the binary separation, implying that one or both stars may interact with the CBD at apastron. The obscuration of the post-AGB star implicates the companion as the likely source of the enhanced Hα observed at RVb minima and of the X-ray emission that may arise from accreted material.