Opt & NIR SMARTS/ANDICAM photometry for DQ Tau

The photometric monitoring, obtained using SMARTS ANDICAM, recovers the previously seen correlation between optical flux and the 15.8d binary orbital period, with blue flux peaks occurring close to most observed periastron passages. For the first time, we find an even more consistent correlation between orbital period and NIR brightness and color.

The onset of pulse events in the NIR precedes those in the optical by a few days, on average, with the rise usually starting near apastron orbital phase. We further obtained five epochs of spectroscopy using Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) SpeX, with a wavelength range of 0.8-5{mu}m, and derived spectra of the infrared excess emission. The shape and strength of the excess varies with time, with cooler and weaker characteristic dust emission (T~1100-1300K) over most of the binary orbit, and stronger/warmer dust emission (T~1600K, indicative of dust sublimation) just before periastron passage.