Article contents
Glimpses of Be Binary Evolution
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2016
Abstract
Models of close binary evolution predict that mass gainers will be spun up to speeds close to the critical rotational velocity while the mass donors will appear as stripped down He stars, white dwarfs, or neutron stars. I argue here that the mass gainers are closely related to the Be stars. I present a list of the known Be binary systems which consists of those with bright, Roche-filling companions and those with faint or undetected companions. Notably absent are Be + B systems which are expected if the Be phase is a stage in the life of a single star. We now have the first example of a Be + He star system in the binary, ϕ Per, and taken together with the well known Be X-ray binaries, there is clear evidence that some fraction of Be stars are created in binaries; whether all such rapid rotators are so formed remains unknown.
- Type
- 7. Interacting Binaries
- Information
- International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 175: The Be Phenomenon in Early-Type Stars , 2000 , pp. 668 - 680
- Copyright
- Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2000
References
- 1
- Cited by