Radio observations of IRAS-selected Southern hemisphere classical Be stars

We present the first radio observations of a sample of 13 optically and IR-bright Southern hemisphere classical Be stars made from the Australian Telescope Compact Array at 3.5 and 6.3 cm simultaneously. One star, δ Cen, was detected at 3.5 cm, and a second, μ Cen, was also thought to have been detected; further observations of this source are required to confirm this detection. No sources were detected at 6.3 cm, although δ Cen was previously detected at this wavelength by other observers at a higher flux than our detection limit. The radio observations show that the spectral energy distribution undergoes a turnover between the far-IR and radio wavelengths, as was seen in previous studies. Likewise we find no simple correlation between far-IR and radio flux. Lower limits to the outer disc radius were found to be of the order of a few hundred solar radii i.e. of the order of those found previously by Taylor et al.