In this paper I shall examine the use and misuse of some astronomical terminology as it is commonly found in the literature. The incorrect usage of common terms, and sometimes the terms themselves, can lead to confusion by the reader and may well indicate misconceptions by the authors. A basic definition of the Be phenomena is suggested and other stellar characteristics whose interpretation may change when used for non-spherical stars, is discussed. Special attention is paid to a number of terms whose semantic nature is misleading when applied to the phenomena they are intended to represent. The use of model-dependent terms is discussed and some comments are offered which are intended to improve the clarity of communication within the subject.

The various methods for determining masses, radii, luminosities, effective temperatures, spectral types, and rotational velocities of the underlying Be stars are reviewed, and representative values listed for each.

No mean longitudinal or toroidal magnetic fields have yet been detected on any classical Be star. Models of stellar winds and circumstellar envelopes around magnetic Be stars are not appreciably constrained by present observed upper limits on field strength. A few magnetic Be stars do exist among the helium strong stars, but these objects show spectral phenomenology which is unmistakably distinct from that shown by every other object known as a Be star.

Photometric and/or spectroscopic variability on time scales of approximately 0.2 to 2 days has been observed in over 40 Be stars, and is suspected in many more. This paper reviews the observational aspects of this phenomenon: both surveys and studies of individual objects. This phenomenon is not easy to study and interpret: (i) the time scale is inconvenient (ii) there have been very few simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic studies of individual objects (iii) the photometric variability is small, often irregular and superimposed on longer-term variability and (iv) the spectroscopic variability is usually observed as absorption line profile variability, which requires special instrumentation. For these and other reasons, there is not yet a universal agreement about the nature of this phenomenon. Nevertheless, it deserves further intensive study, not only because it is common, but also because in one or two stars, there is evidence that the rapid variability may be related (causally perhaps?) to the longer-term variability in these stars - variability whose ultimate cause is still not known.

In the framework of an interferometric program on Be stars, first announced during the IAU general assemblies at Patras, 1982, recently at New Delhi, 1985 and reported in the “Be Star Newsletter” n°6 and l3, we try to measure the angular diameter of the central star, hydrogen envelope and, if possible, its movement, of the brightest Be stars in the context of pulsating atmosphere or binary star hypothesis.

In this paper we present two kinds of results which show that differential rotation is a highly probable phenomenon in B and Be stars. These results show that angular momentum is an important parameter which must be taken into account for interpreting the observed parameters of B and Be stars and for studying their structure.

The problem of describing the Be stars is especially interesting to investigate. A large collection of these objects are organized into information with preserving structures, such as classifications. In this case the difficulties consist of: 1) determining which are the main properties in the classification, and 2) deciding which one of the possible classifications should be used. For the first part there are a MK spectral system and a scheme of classifications presented by Jaschek et al. (1980), among others. The second part has been worked out in many ways. Here we describe, following the Information Theory (IT), an analytical method to compare both classifications of Be stars.

Previous studies of variable Be stars show that the short-term variability is a common, but not well understood phenomena. From a list of ‘candidates’ given by Alvarez (1980) and Schuster & Alvarez (1983) under a cooperative program between France and México, we choose some interesting Be objects to study their behaviour both in spectroscopy and photometry. We are reporting some preliminary results of our observations.

As Be stars and classical β CMa variables both have a distribution peak at B2, one can wonder if there is a connection between these two phenomena. A way to solve this problem could be to carry out a systematic survey of emission on short periodic B variables,over months and years.

Another way, chosen by our grouns in Nice, Ensenada and Meudon, is to improve time resolution in photometric and spectrographic observations on the Be stars already known to have short time scale variations. Special attention is paid to longitude cooperation, essential to detect or measure longer time constants.

Over the past two years, we have obtained high resolution high signal/noise (S/N) spectra of the magnetic Be star σ Ori E at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope and McDonald Observatory. These spectra, which cover the spectral regions 399-417.5 and 440-458.5 nm and the Hα line and have typical S/N>200 and spectral resolution ≃0.02 nm, were obtained at a variety of rotational phases in order to study the magnetic field structure, the distribution of elements in the photosphere, and the effects of the magnetic field on the emission envelope. Our analysis of these spectra confirms, refines and extends the results obtained by Landstreet & Borra (1978), Groote & Hunger (1982 and references therein), and Nakajima (1985).

The Hα emission is usually double-peaked, but it undergoes remarkable variations with the 1.19081 d rotational period of the star, which show that the emitting gas is localized into two regions which co-rotate with the star.

Evidence is now accumulating that many Be stars display photospheric line profile variations on timescales of days or less that are probably caused by nonradial pulsations (Baade 1984; Penrod 1986). In some circumstances these pulsations can promote mass loss into the circumstellar envelope, and consequently the conditions in the inner part of the envelope may vary on similar timescales. Changes in the envelope could produce variations in the polarization and emission line profiles, and observers have reported rapid variability in both. We describe here an initial attempt to search for simultaneous variations in continuum polarization, Hα emission, and the He I λ6678 photospheric absorption line in order to investigate correlated changes on short timescales.

The fact that some Be stars have periodic light vanations with time scales of the order of one day is well established (eg. Balona and Engelbrecht 1986). The cause of this variability is not yet understood. The explanation which seems to have gained the most acceptance is nonradial pulsation (NRP). It is of great importance to ascertain the proportion of Be stars which are short-period variables and to determine the link between the variations and the emission-line phase. We have started a photometric project to investigate these problems. In this note we present some preliminary results and tentative conclusions.

In 1983 and 1984 a programme of UBV observations was carried out to set up a network of standard stars, identify short term variables, and analyse the variability of the 86 bright (V ≳ 6.5) southern (δ < -20°) Be stars.

The timing of the observations was designed specifically to reveal short term variability. Each group of Be and comparison stars was observed at least four times. Where possible, the first two sets of observations were made on one night and the next two sets on the next night (and sometimes a fifth set of observations was also made). Eleven Be stars were identified as possible short or intermediate term variables (Stagg, in preparation). These included the Be star 28 ω CMa, whose V and B-V (but not U-B) variations were consistent with the spectroscopic period of 1.37 days found by Baade (1982).

11 Cam (HD 32343 = HR 1622) is a so-called “pole-on” Be star known for its long term variations, already noted by Merrill and Burwell (1943). Recent determinations of visual magnitude and spectral type are V = 5.222 and B2.5Ve (Rufener, 1981). The Balmer line profiles, especially Hα, have been frequently studied; Briot (1971), for instance, measured 40 and 4.9 Å equivalent widths for Hα and Hβ respectively; the Hα/Hβ peak to continuum ratio is 6.43/2.02 according to Gray and Marlborough (1974) who give v sin i = 131 km s-1, close to the value of 140 km s-1 adopted by Kogure (1968).

HD 184279 (V1294 Aql) has presented in the past an emission spectrum on the first terms of the Balmer series, and shell absorptions on the hydrogen and neutral helium lines. Their variations have been reported by Merrill (1952), Merrill and Lowen (1953) and Svolopoulos (1975). Ballereau and Hubert-Delplace (1982) evidenced long-term V/R variations with an amplitude of ∼100 km s-1. Short-term photometric variations are irregular (Tempesti and Patriarca, 1976), while long-term variations are correlated with radial velocity (RV) of shell lines (Horn et al., 1982). Ballereau and Chauville (in preparation) extended the spectroscopic observations until 1984 and confirmed the pseudo-periodic variations, the last half-period ranging over 3.4 years (April 1, 1980-August 1, 1983).

ζTau is a Be star which probably showed already in 1973 rapid variations in Hα emission strength with time scales of a few minutes (Bahng, 1976). It represents, moreover, the primary of a well-known binary system with a period of 132.91 days (e.g., Hynek and Struve, 1942), and its shell displays long term instabilities with time scales of some years (Delplace and Chambon, 1976). The basis of the present work is a compact set of 82 grating photographic spectrograms obtained at Merate by means of the 137 cm reflector with an inverse dispersion of about 35 Å/mm between Jan 17 and Jan 24, 1983. Forty four of these spectra cover the range between ˜ 4000 and ˜ 5000 Å, the other ones being centered on Hα.

Short-term variations, typically with small amplitude (Δm < 0.1 mag.), time-scales of hours or near one day and in many cases correlated with the rotation period have been found to be commonplace among Be stars (see Harmanec and Pavlovski 1983 for review and papers). Radial and non-radial pulsation modes have been proposed to explain this variability. However, the light curves are often double-peaked, at first suggesting the stars may have large organized dipole magnetic fields and spots not unlike those in the Ap or Bp stars (Harmanec 1983). These rotationally modulated variations are not stable, and seem to vary in both amplitude and period in the sense that intervals with well defined light curves alternate with intervals when variations are absent. This phenomenon is very reminiscent of formation and apparent relative movement in longitude of spots (groups) in some RS CVn binaries (Catalano 1983, Rodono 1986), but on a much more rapid time scale.