Catching the Binaries Amongst B[e] Stars
Abstract
It is surprising to find dust around B type stars, as in the case of B[e] stars. These stars exhibit a dense, dusty environment witnessed by their infrared-excess and many emission lines from permitted and forbidden transitions. Given the large uncertainties on their distances, this spectral type gathers many different kind of sources that may harbor a similar circumstellar environment, i.e. a dense dusty disk. At the exception of Young Stellar Objects, in many cases, it is very difficult to understand the origin of such a disk without invoking binarity. We describe current powerful methods, like spectral disentangling, spectro-astrometry and long baseline interferometry, to detect especially close binaries amongst the unclassified B[e] stars. The role of binary mergers in the formation of the B[e] phenomenon, especially in supergiants and compact PNe, is also discussed.
Cite
@article{arxiv.0909.2268,
title = {Catching the Binaries Amongst B[e] Stars},
author = {Michaela Kraus and Marcelo Borges Fernandes and Olivier Chesneau},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0909.2268},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
4 pages, to appear in proceedings of Binaries - Key to Comprehension of the Universe (ASP Conference Series)