Circumstellar disc geometry constrained by infrared line fluxes

Jones, C. E.; Molak, A.; Sigut, T. A. A.; de Koter, A.; Lenorzer, A.; Popa, S. C.
Bibliographical reference

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 392, Issue 1, pp. 383-390.

Advertised on:
1
2009
Number of authors
6
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
13
Refereed citations
12
Description
Lenorzer et al. introduce ratios of hydrogen infrared recombination lines as a diagnostic tool to constrain the spatial distribution and physical condition of circumstellar material around hot massive stars. They demonstrate that the observed line flux ratios Hu14/Brα and Hu14/Pfγ from different types of objects associated with circumstellar material, such as Be stars, B[e] stars, and Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) stars are well separated in a diagnostic diagram. In this paper, we investigate this diagnostic tool using a non-LTE disc code developed by Sigut & Jones focusing on Be discs. We find good agreement between the empirical and predicted locations of Be stars in the Hu14/Brα versus Hu14/Pfγ diagram and show that indeed this diagnostic tool can be used to constrain basic properties of the discs of these stars.