2003A&A...406..685W

I report on a new component in the pre-main sequence multiple system V773 Tauri. This second visual companion, V773 Tau C, with a projected separation of ≃0.2" has been detected using speckle interferometry in the near-infrared. Repeated observations from 1996 to 2002 show significant orbital motion and thus confirm the character of the new companion as a gravitationally bound star. Together with the two components of the spectroscopic binary V773 Tau A and the previously known visual companion V773 Tau B, the V773 Tau system appears as a young ``mini-cluster'' of four T Tauri stars within a sphere of a radius less than 100AU. V773 Tau A, B and C form a triple system that is not hierarchic, but is apparently stable despite of this. The brightness of V773 Tau C has probably increased over the last years, which may explain its non-detection in previous binary surveys.