Mid-Infrared Imaging of the Young Binary Star Hen 3-600: Evidence for a Dust Disk around the Primary

We present high-resolution mid-infrared observations of the nearby late-type young binary system Hen 3-600. The binary, at a distance of ~50 pc, could be a member of the TW Hydrae association, the nearest known group of young stars, with an age of a few million years. Our images make it possible for the first time to determine which star in the pair, separated by 14, harbors the mid-infrared excess detected by IRAS. In the near-infrared, where the radiation is primarily photospheric, Hen 3-600A (M3) and Hen 3-600B (M3.5) have a flux ratio of 1.6. At 4.8, 10.8, and 18.2 μm, the primary becomes increasingly dominant over the secondary, suggesting that most of the circumstellar dust in the system resides around Hen 3-600A. Comparison of the spectral energy distribution (SED) of Hen 3-600A to the median SED of classical T Tauri stars suggests that its disk may be truncated by the secondary and provides tentative evidence for a central disk hole. The distribution of dust in the Hen 3-600 system may provide important clues to the formation and evolution of protoplanetary disks in close binaries.