An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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The nearest known → classical T Tauri star, situated some 56 → parsecs away in the constellation → Hydra, far from any → molecular cloud (abbreviated TW Hya). It is a variable star with large Hα-emission → equivalent width. TW Hya is similar in mass to the Sun, but is only about 8 million years old. The star appears to be → accreting from a remarkable → face-on→ protoplanetary disk of dust and gas, resolved in images from the → Hubble Space Telescope. Stellar light scattered from the optically thick dust disk is seen from 20 to 230 AU. The → scattering profile indicates that the disk is → flared, not geometrically flat. TW Hya is accompanied by a group of other low-mass stars with similar ages and space motions, comprising the → TW Hydrae association. An → exoplanet of mass nearly 10 → Jupiters has been detected around TW Hya. It orbits the star with a period of 3.56 days at 0.04 AU, inside the inner rim of the disk.

→ Hydra.

A young (≤ 100 million years) association of stars (abbreviated TWA) with at least 27 members, from → intermediate mass stars to planetary mass objects. Five of them, including → TW Hydrae, display signatures of → T Tauri stars. TWA is the first moving group of young nearby (≤ 100 → paesecs) stars to be identified.

→ TW Hydrae; → association.