Pulsed accretion in a variable protostar.

Periodic increases in luminosity arising from variable accretion rates have been predicted for some pre-main-sequence close binary stars as they grow from circumbinary disks. The phenomenon is known as pulsed accretion and can affect the orbital evolution and mass distribution of young binaries, as well as the potential for planet formation. Accretion variability is a common feature of young stars, with a large range of amplitudes and timescales as measured from multi-epoch observations at optical and infrared wavelengths.