TW Hydrae association with X-shooter

However, our current knowledge of how mass accretion in young stars evolves over the lifespans of disks is subject to many uncertainties, especially at the lower stellar masses. In this study, we investigate ongoing accretion activity in the TW Hydrae association (TWA), the closest association of pre-main sequence stars with active disks.

The age (8-10Myr) and the proximity of the TWA render it an ideal target to probe the final stages of disk accretion down to brown dwarf masses. The study is based on homogeneous spectroscopic data from 300nm to 2500nm, obtained synoptically with X-shooter, which allows simultaneous derivation of individual extinction, stellar parameters, and accretion parameters for each star. The continuum excess emission diagnostics is used to estimate the accretion luminosities and mass accretion rates of our disk-bearing targets, and the shape and intensity of permitted and forbidden emission lines are analyzed to probe the physics of the star-disk interaction environment.