H. E. Wheelwright, J. E. Bjorkman, R. D. Oudmaijer, A. C. Carciofi, K. S. Bjorkman, J. M. Porter
While the presence of discs around classical Be stars is well established,
their origin is still uncertain. To understand what processes result in the
creation of these discs and how angular momentum is transported within them,
their physical properties must be constrained. This requires comparing high
spatial and spectral resolution data with detailed radiative transfer
modelling. We present a high spectral resolution, R~80,000, sub milli-arcsecond
precision, spectroastrometric study of the circumstellar disc around the Be
star beta CMi. The data are confronted with three-dimensional, NLTE radiative
transfer calculations to directly constrain the properties of the disc.
Furthermore, we compare the data to disc models featuring two velocity laws;
Keperian, the prediction of the viscous disc model, and angular momentum
conserving rotation. It is shown that the observations of beta CMi can only be
reproduced using Keplerian rotation. The agreement between the model and the
observed SED, polarisation and spectroastrometric signature of beta CMi
confirms that the discs around Be stars are well modelled as viscous decretion
discs.
View original:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1202.4561
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