Protostars and Planets VI, Heidelberg, July 15-20, 2013

Poster 2B057

Keplerian Periodicity in the Photometric Variability of VV Serpentis

Kopon, Derek (MPIA)
Close, Laird (University of Arizona)
Skemer, Andrew (University of Arizona)

Abstract:
We present the results of our long-term photometric monitoring effort of VV Serpentis, a Herbig Ae star with an edge-on disk that is known to undergo periodic extinction events. We combine our 177 nights of data from the ANDICAM simultaneous visible/IR imager with two data sets from the literature to create a large, statistically significant, 1834 night data set spanning 23 observing seasons. A Lomb-Scargle analysis of this data set shows a broad peak in the periodigram at 30-35 days. This period corresponds to the Keplerian orbital period of the inner rim of the disk, suggesting that the periodic extinction events are caused by protoplanetary structure, which is expected to form in the same inner regions of the disk.

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