Disk Accretion in the 10 M[CLC]yr[/CLC] Old T Tauri Stars TW Hydrae and Hen 3-600A

Abstract

We have found that two members of the TW Hydrae association, TW Hydrae and Hen 3-600A, are still actively accreting, based on the ballistic infall signature of their broad Hα emission profiles. We present the first quantitative analysis of accretion in these objects and conclude that the same accretion mechanisms which operate in the well-studied 1 Myr old T Tauri stars can and do occur in older (10 Myr) stars. We derive the first estimates of the disk mass accretion rate in TW Hya and Hen 3-600A, which are 1-2 orders of magnitude lower than the average rates in 1 Myr old objects. The decrease in accretion rates over 10 Myr, as well as the low fraction of TW Hya association objects still accreting, points to significant disk evolution, possibly linked to planet formation. Given the multiplicity of the Hen 3-600 system and the large UV excess of TW Hya, our results show that accretion disks can be surprisingly long lived in spite of the presence of companions and significant UV ionizing flux.