Physical Conditions of Be Star Circumstellar Disks: Clues from Hα Profiles

Details Physical Conditions of Be Star Circumstellar Disks: Clues from Hα Profiles Physical Conditions of Be Star Circumstellar Disks: Clues from Hα Profiles

Jan 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009aas...21340910s&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #213, #409.10; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.209

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Scientific paper

B-emission (Be) stars are a class of massive, rapidly rotating stars. Their dominant spectral feature is the Halpha emission line at 656.3 nm. This emission arises from the presence of gaseous circumstellar matter, and the observed profiles take a variety of shapes, from the so-called winebottle profile, to singly or doubly-peaked profiles, and even shell spectra. Furthermore, the profiles tend to be variable, and a single star may experience a transition from one profile shape to another. Previous attempts to classify the Halpha profiles of Be stars have hypothesized that the shapes are mainly related to the orientation of the star/disk system to the observer's line of sight. Using a non-LTE radiative transfer code, we have computed hundreds of theoretical line profiles at representative low, mid and high inclination angles. We show that by incorporating a detailed thermal structure in the disk, many profile shapes can be obtained at a single inclination angle. This demonstrates that self-consistent disk physical conditions are crucial to interpreting line profile shapes correctly, and that the profile shape is not solely determined by the inclination angle. Through detailed modeling we determine the physical conditions in the disk for a large number of observed Be stars.

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