The nature of the recent extreme outburst of the Herbig Be/FU Orionis binary Z Canis Majoris ***

Author： Szeifert T. Hubrig S. Schöller M. Schütz O. Stelzer B. Mikulášek Z.

E-ISSN： 1432-0746|509|issue|L7-L7

ISSN： 0004-6361

Source： Astronomy & Astrophysics, Vol.509, Iss.issue, 2010-01, pp. : L7-L7

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Abstract

Context. Z CMa is a binary system which consists of two young stars: a Herbig AeBe component Z CMa NW embedded in a dust cocoon and a less massive component Z CMa SE, which is classified as a FU Orionis type star. Associated to the binary system is a giant parsec-size jet. Past spectropolarimetric observations showed that the position angle of the linear optical polarization is perpendicular to the jet axis, indicating that the visual light escapes the cocoon via cavities aligned with the jet axis and is then scattered back into the line of sight of the observer. Recently the system showed the largest outburst reported during the almost 90 years of available observations.