Diffraction limited infrared images of the binary star T Tauri

High-resolution images of T Tau and its infrared companion have been reconstructed from near- and midinfrared data collected at the Hale 5-m telescope. The near-infrared (1-5 microns) results were obtained by 2D speckle imaging and the midinfrared (10-20 microns) results were derived from shift-and-add procedures applied to slit scans. The spectral energy distributions of the separated components were constructed from 1- to 20-micron data collected in less than half a year (September 1990 to January 1991). The spectral energy distribution of the optical component (T Tau N) is interpreted as containing two distinct constituents, a photosphere and a surrounding disk of circumstellar material. Measurements at a number of infrared wavelengths over the period December 1985 to January 1991 show a 2-mag color-independent change in the brightness of the infrared component (T Tau S). It is proposed that this may have been caused by an increase in accretion onto T Tau S and model the spectral energy distribution of T Tau S as being dominated by an accretion disk.