A search for luminous Be stars

As Be stars are restricted to luminosity classes III‐V, but early B‐type stars are believed to evolve into supergiants, it is to be expected that the Be phenomenon disappears at some point in the evolution of a moderately massive star, before it reaches the supergiant phase. As a first stage in an attempt to determine the physical reasons of this cessation, a search of the literature has provided a number of candidates to be Be stars with luminosity classes Ib or II. Spectroscopy has been obtained for candidates in a number of open clusters and associations, as well as several other bright stars in those clusters. Among the objects observed, HD 207329 is the best candidate to be a high‐luminosity Be star, as it appears like a fast‐rotating supergiant with double‐peaked emission lines. The lines of HD 229059, in Berkeley 87, also appear morphologically similar to those of Be stars, but there are reasons to suspect that this object is an interacting binary. At slightly lower luminosities, LS I +56°92 (B4 II) and HD 333452 (O9 II), also appear as intrinsically luminous Be stars. Two Be stars in NGC 6913, HD 229221 and HD 229239, appear to have rather higher intrinsic magnitudes than their spectral type (B0.2 III in both cases) would indicate, being as luminous as luminosity class II objects in the same cluster. HD 344863, in NGC 6823, is also a rather early Be star of moderately high luminosity. The search shows that, though high‐luminosity Be stars do exist, they are scarce and, perhaps surprisingly, tend to have early spectral types. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Very peculiar wind from BD+53°2790, the optical counterpart to 4U 2206+54

BD+53°2790, an O9.5V star, is the optical counterpart to the HMXRB 4U 2206+54. This system was classified initially as a BeX, but observational evidence soon stressed the need to revise this classification. The permanent asymmetry in the Hα line profiles (in contrast with the cyclic variations shown by Be stars), the variations in the profile of this line in time scales of hours (while time scales from weeks to months are expected in Be stars), and the lack of correlation between IR observables and Hα line parameters, strongly suggest that, while BD+53°2790 contains a circumstellar disc, it is not like the one present in Be stars (Blay et al. 2006). Furthermore, there is evidence of overabundance of He in BD+53°2790. Together with the presence of an anomalous wind, found through UV spectroscopy, the possibility to link this star with the group of He rich stars is open. We will discuss the work done with IUE data from BD+53°2790 and the unexpected finding of a slow and dense wind, very rare for an O9.5V star.     

Towards an understanding of the Of?p star HD 191612: optical spectroscopy

We present extensive optical spectroscopy of the early-type magnetic star HD 191612 (O6.5f?pe–O8fp). The Balmer and He  i lines show strongly variable emission which is highly reproducible on a well-determined 538-d period. He  ii absorptions and metal lines (including many selective emission lines but excluding He  ii λ4686 Å emission) are essentially constant in line strength, but are variable in velocity, establishing a double-lined binary orbit with   P _orb= 1542 d, e = 0.45  . We conduct a model-atmosphere analysis of the spectrum, and find that the system is consistent with a ∼O8 giant with a ∼B1 main-sequence secondary. Since the periodic 538-d changes are unrelated to orbital motion, rotational modulation of a magnetically constrained plasma is strongly favoured as the most likely underlying 'clock'. An upper limit on the equatorial rotation is consistent with this hypothesis, but is too weak to provide a strong constraint.     

The distances to the X-ray binaries LSI +61° 303 and A0535+262

Chevalier & Ilovaisky use Hipparcos data to show that the X-ray binary systems LSI+61° 303 and A0535+262 are a factor of 10 closer (i.e. d  ∼ few hundred pc) than previously thought ( d  ∼ kpc). We present high-quality CCD spectra of the systems, and conclude that the spectral types, reddening and absolute magnitudes of these objects are strongly inconsistent with the closer distances. We propose that the Hipparcos distances to these two systems are incorrect owing to their relatively faint optical magnitudes.     

On the class of Oe stars'

We present high‐quality spectra of the majority of stars that have been classified as Oe and find that their published spectral types are generally too early, most likely due to infilling of He I lines. As a matter of fact, all stars classified as Oe actually fall inside the range O9–B0 with the important exception of HD 155806 (O7.5 III) and perhaps HD 39680 (difficult to classify, but likely O8.5V). Observations of a sample of objects with published spectral types in the O9–B0 range previously classified as peculiar or emission‐line stars fail to reveal any new Oe star with spectral type earlier than O9.5. Most objects classified as peculiar in “classical” literature show signs of binarity in our spectra, but no spectral anomalies. We conclude that there is likely a real decline in the fraction of Be stars for spectral types earlier than B0, not due to observational bias. The few Oe stars with spectral types earlier than O9.5 deserve detailed investigation in order to provide constraints on the physical reasons of the Be phenomenon. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Correlated V/R and infrared photometric variations in the Be/X-ray binary LS I +61° 235/RX J0146.9+6121

We report on the long-term variability of the Be/X-ray binary LS I +61° 235/RX J0146.9+6121. New optical spectroscopic and infrared photometric observations confirm the presence of global one-armed oscillations in the circumstellar disc of the Be star, and allow us to derive a V R band quasi-period of 1240±30 d. Pronounced shell events, reminiscent of the spectacular variations in Be stars, are also seen. We have found that the J , H and K infrared photometric bands vary in correlation with the spectroscopic V R variations, implying that the one-armed disc oscillations are prograde. The effect of the oscillations is not only seen in the H α line but is also seen in the He  i λ 6678 and Paschen lines. As these lines are formed at different radii in the equatorial disc of the Be star, such effects confirm the global nature of the perturbation. The Keplerian disc has been found to be denser than the average for a sample of isolated Be stars, which may be indicative of some kind of interaction with the compact companion. Finally, from a Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer observation we derive a spin period of the neutron star of 1404.5±0.5 s.     

Optical studies of two Large Magellanic Cloud X-ray transients: RX J0544.1–7100 and RX J0520.5–6932

We report observations that confirm the identities of the optical counterparts to the transient sources RX J0544.1–7100 and RX J0520.5–6932 . The counterparts are suggested to be B-type stars. Optical data from the observations carried out at ESO and SAAO, together with results from the OGLE data base, are presented. In addition, X-ray data from the RXTE All-Sky Monitor are investigated for long-term periodicities. A strong suggestion for a binary period of 24.4 d is seen in RX J0520.5–6932 from the OGLE data.     

The Be/X-ray transient V0332+53: evidence for a tilt between the orbit and the equatorial plane?

We present optical and infrared observations of BQ Cam, the optical counterpart to the Be/X-ray transient system V0332+53. BQ Cam is shown to be an O8–9Ve star, which places V0332+53 at a distance of ∼7 kpc. H α spectroscopy and infrared photometry are used to discuss the evolution of the circumstellar envelope. Owing to the low inclination of the system, parameters are strongly constrained. We find strong evidence for a tilt of the orbital plane with respect to the circumstellar disc (presumably on the equatorial plane). Even though the periastron distance is only ≈10 R _*, during the present quiescent state the circumstellar disc does not extend to the distance of periastron passage. Under these conditions, X-ray emission is effectively prevented by centrifugal inhibition of accretion. The circumstellar disc is shown to be optically thick at optical and infrared wavelengths, which, together with its small size, is taken as an indication of tidal truncation.