The BESTARS database tables contains a compilation of data concerning stars of type Be. For the purposes of this compilation, a Be star is defined as a non-supergiant B star which showed emission in one Balmer line at least once. Stars without published MK spectral types have been excluded, except for 132 stars from Bidelman and MacConnell (1973), who used the above definition but included no spectral types. There are 1,159 stars included in this list. This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .
We report on searching for Classical B-type emission-line (CBe) stars in the first data release of the Large Sky Area Multi-Object fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST; also called the Guo Shou Jing Telescope). A total of 192 objects (including 12 previously known CBes) were identified as CBe candidates with prominent HeI {lambda}4387, HeI {lambda}4471 and MgII {lambda}4481 absorption lines, as well as H{beta} {lambda}4861 and H{alpha} {lambda}6563 emission lines. These candidates significantly increase the currently known sample of CBes by about 8%. Most of the CBe candidates are distributed near the Galactic Anti-Center due to the observing strategy used for LAMOST. Only two CBes are in star clusters. These two CBes have ages of 15.8 and 398Myr, respectively.
Magellanic Clouds are the nearby galaxies which are ideal to study the properties of metal poor stellar population. In this study, we explore the near-IR properties of optically identified classical Be stars in 19 star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds. From an optically identified sample of 835 Be stars we obtained the J, H, K magnitudes of 389 stars from the IRSF MCPS catalog. Among these, 247 stars (36.4%) are found in 9 clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud and 142 stars (55.5%) in 10 clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud. After correcting for reddening, we studied their NIR properties in the (H-K)_0_ vs (J-H)_0_ diagram. We identified 14 stars with abnormally large near IR excesses, which were removed from the analysis, there by restricting our study to 355 classical Be stars. We propose an extended area in the near-IR (H-K)_0_ vs (J-H)_0_ diagram as the diagnostic location of Classical Be stars in the Magellanic Clouds. We identified 14 stars to have near-IR excess, higher than those seen in classical Be stars. From the analysis based on spectral energy distribution and luminosity estimate, we found that 8 candidate Be stars may be Herbig Ae/Be stars. We identified a new sample of 6 sgB[e] stars, which when added to the sparse existing sample of 15 sgB[e] stars in the Magellanic Clouds can provide insight to understand the evolutionary link between sgB[e] stars and Luminous Blue variables.
We present the results of a search for Be stars in six fields centered on the young clusters NGC 330 and NGC 346 in the SMC, and NGC 1818, NGC 1948, NGC 2004 and NGC 2100 in the LMC. Be stars were identified by differencing R band and narrow-band H{alpha} CCD images. Our comparatively large images provide substantial Be star populations both within the clusters and in their surrounding fields. Magnitudes, positions and finding charts are given for the 224 Be stars found. The fraction of Be stars to normal B stars within each cluster is found to vary significantly although the average ratio is similar to the average Be to B star ratio found in the Galaxy. In some clusters, the Be star population is weighted to magnitudes near the main sequence turn-off. The Be stars are redder in V-I than normal main-sequence stars of similar magnitude and the redness increases with increasing H{alpha} emission strength.
We conducted a search for Be star candidates in open clusters using H{alpha} imaging photometry of the Palomar Transient Factory Survey to investigate some connections among Be star phenomena, cluster environments, and ages. Stellar members of clusters were identified by spatial distributions, near-infrared magnitudes and colors, and by proper motions. Among 104 open clusters, we identified 96 Be star candidates in 32 clusters; 11 of our candidates have been reported in previous studies. We found that the clusters with age 7.5<log(t(year))=<8.5 tend to have more Be star candidates; there is about a 40% occurrence rate within this age bin. The clusters in this age bin also tend to have a higher Be fraction N(Be)/N(Be+B-type). These results suggest that the environments of young and intermediate clusters are favorable to the formation of Be phenomena. Spatial distribution of Be star candidates with different ages implies that they do not form preferentially in the central regions. Furthermore, we showed that the mid-infrared (MIR) colors of the Be star candidates are similar to known Be stars, which could be caused by free-free emission or bound-free emission. Some Be star candidates might have no circumstellar dust according to their MIR colors. Finally, among 96 Be candidates, we discovered that one Be star candidate FSR 0904-1 exhibits long-term variability on the timescale of ~2000 days with an amplitude of 0.2-0.3 mag, indicating a long timescale of disk evolution.
The class of Be stars are the epitome of rapid rotators in the main sequence. These stars are privileged candidates for studying the incidence of rotation on the stellar internal structure and on non-radial pulsations. Pulsations are considered possible mechanisms to trigger mass-ejection phenomena required to build up the circumstellar disks of Be stars. Time series analyses of the light curves of 15 faint Be stars observed with the CoRoT satellite were performed to obtain the distribution of non-radial pulsation (NRP) frequencies in their power spectra at epochs with and without light outbursts and to discriminate pulsations from rotation-related photometric variations. Standard Fourier techniques were employed to analyze the CoRoT light curves. Fundamental parameters corrected for rapid-rotation effects were used to study the power spectrum as a function of the stellar location in the instability domains of the Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram. Frequencies are concentrated in separate groups as predicted for g-modes in rapid B-type rotators, except for the two stars that are outside the H-R instability domain. In five objects the variations in the power spectrum are correlated with the time-dependent outbursts characteristics. Time-frequency analysis showed that during the outbursts the amplitudes of stable main frequencies within 0.03c/d intervals strongly change, while transients and/or frequencies of low amplitude appear separated or not separated from the stellar frequencies. The frequency patterns and activities depend on evolution phases: i) the average separations between groups of frequencies are larger in the zero-age main sequence (ZAMS) than in the terminal age main sequence (TAMS) and are the largest in the middle of the MS phase; ii) a poor frequency spectrum with f<1c/d of low amplitude characterizes the stars beyond the TAMS; and iii) outbursts are seen in stars hotter than B4 spectral type and in the second half of the MS. The two main frequency groups are separated by {delta}f=(1.24+/-0.28).f_{rot}_ in agreement with models of prograde sectoral g-modes (m=-1,-2) of intermediate-mass rapid rotators. The changes of amplitudes of individual frequencies and the presence of transients correlated with the outburst events deserve further studies of physical conditions in the subatmospheric layers to establish the relationship between pulsations and sporadic mass-ejection events.
We present uvby{beta} photometry for Be stars in eight open clusters and two OB associations. It is shown that Be stars occupy anomalous positions in the photometric diagrams, which can be explained in terms of the circumstellar continuum radiation contribution to the photometric indices. In the (b-y)_0_-M_V_ plane Be stars appear redder than the non emission B stars, due to the additional reddening caused by the hydrogen free-bound and free-free recombination in the circumstellar envelope. In the c_0_-M_V_ plane the earlier Be stars present lower c_0_ values than absorption-line B stars, which is caused by emission in the Balmer discontinuity, while the later Be stars deviate towards higher c_0_ values, indicating absorption in the Balmer discontinuity of circumstellar origin.
The high accuracy and the homogeneity of Hipparcos data for bright stars have allowed us to quantify the degree of variability of Be stars. This degree has been found to be highly dependent on the temperature of the star. Rapid variability is the main feature of the 86% of early Be and less than 20% of late Be stars taking into account the limit of detection considered. In addition to Be stars reported in the Hipparcos catalogue (ESA 1997, Cat. <I/239>) as short-period variables, we have been able to enlarge the number of detections as well as to confirm periods previously determined. Be stars that show larger amplitude rapid variations are proposed as candidates for a search of multiperiodicity i.e. as non-radial pulsators. We have also searched for the presence of outbursts and fading events in the Hipparcos data. Outbursts have been frequently and preferentially detected in early Be stars with rather low to moderate v sini while fading events seem to be more conspicuous in stars with higher v sini. Mid-term and long-term variations have also been investigated. Several stars have shown some evidence of temporary quasi-periodic oscillations ranging between 10 and 200 days. Finally information concerning long-term variations is reported. Cycles shorter than or equal to the Hipparcos mission have mainly been detected in stars earlier than B6. Long-term time scales of late Be stars are confirmed to be longer by far.
The structure and kinematics of gaseous, disk-halo interfaces are imprinted with the processes that transfer mass, metals, and energy between galactic disks and their environments. We study the extraplanar diffuse ionized gas (eDIG) layer in the interacting, star-forming galaxy NGC5775 to better understand the consequences of star formation feedback on the dynamical state of the thick-disk interstellar medium. Combining emission-line spectroscopy from the Robert Stobie Spectrograph on the Southern African Large Telescope with radio continuum observations from Continuum Halos in Nearby Galaxies-an EVLA Survey, we ask whether thermal, turbulent, magnetic field, and cosmic-ray pressure gradients can stably support the eDIG layer in dynamical equilibrium. This model fails to reproduce the observed exponential electron scale heights of the eDIG thick disk and halo on the northeast (h_z,e_=0.6,7.5kpc) and southwest (h_z,e_=0.8,3.6kpc) sides of the galaxy at R<11kpc. We report the first definitive detection of an increasing eDIG velocity dispersion as a function of height above the disk. Blueshifted gas along the minor axis at large distances from the midplane hints at a disk-halo circulation and/or ram pressure effects caused by the ongoing interaction with NGC5774. This work motivates further integral field unit and/or Fabry-Perot spectroscopy of galaxies with a range of star formation rates to develop a spatially resolved understanding of the role of star formation feedback in shaping the kinematics of the disk-halo interface.
