Constraining Disk Parameters of Be Stars using Narrowband H-alpha Interferometry with the NPOI

Details Constraining Disk Parameters of Be Stars using Narrowband H-alpha Interferometry with the NPOI Constraining Disk Parameters of Be Stars using Narrowband H-alpha Interferometry with the NPOI

Publishing date

2006-02-03

URL

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0602087v1

Science

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Field

Astrophysics

Additional info

23 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in AJ

Type

Scientific paper

Digital Object Identifier

10.1086/502679

Abstract

Interferometric observations of two well-known Be stars, gamma Cas and phi Per, were collected and analyzed to determine the spatial characteristics of their circumstellar regions. The observations were obtained using the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer equipped with custom-made narrowband filters. The filters isolate the H-alpha emission line from the nearby continuum radiation, which results in an increased contrast between the interferometric signature due to the H-alpha-emitting circumstellar region and the central star. Because the narrowband filters do not significantly attenuate the continuum radiation at wavelengths 50 nm or more away from the line, the interferometric signal in the H-alpha channel is calibrated with respect to the continuum channels. The observations used in this study represent the highest spatial resolution measurements of the H-alpha-emitting regions of Be stars obtained to date. These observations allow us to demonstrate for the first time that the intensity distribution in the circumstellar region of a Be star cannot be represented by uniform disk or ring-like structures, whereas a Gaussian intensity distribution appears to be fully consistent with our observations.

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