Photographic spectrophotometry of selected bright B and Be Stars

Coudé spectra taken in the red region of 49 bright B and Be stars were examined for the behaviour of Hα and the He I λλ 5876 and 6678 line profiles. 51 per cent of the stars were found to show Hα emission to some degree and 22 per cent showed helium emission. Evidence is presented for the existence of drastic changes in the line profile and the radial velocity in some of the stars on a time scale of fractions of a day. Visiting Astronomer, Kitt Peak National Observatory and Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, under contract with the National Science Foundation.