High-resolution, H band Spectroscopy of Be Stars with SDSS-III/APOGEE: I. New Be Stars, Line Identifications, and Line Profiles

Abstract

APOGEE has amassed the largest ever collection of multi-epoch, high-resolution (R~22,500), H-band spectra for B-type emission line (Be) stars. The 128/238 APOGEE Be stars for which emission had never previously been reported serve to increase the total number of known Be stars by ~6%. We focus on identification of the H-band lines and analysis of the emission peak velocity separations (v_p) and emission peak intensity ratios (V/R) of the usually double-peaked H I and non-hydrogen emission lines. H I Br11 emission is found to preferentially form in the circumstellar disks at an average distance of ~2.2 stellar radii. Increasing v_p toward the weaker Br12--Br20 lines suggests these lines are formed interior to Br11. By contrast, the observed IR Fe II emission lines present evidence of having significantly larger formation radii; distinctive phase lags between IR Fe II and H I Brackett emission lines further supports that these species arise from different radii in Be disks. Several emission lines have been identified for the first time including ~16895, a prominent feature in the spectra for almost a fifth of the sample and, as inferred from relatively large v_p compared to the Br11-Br20, a tracer of the inner regions of Be disks. Unlike the typical metallic lines observed for Be stars in the optical, the H-band metallic lines, such as Fe II 16878, never exhibit any evidence of shell absorption, even when the H I lines are clearly shell-dominated. The first known example of a quasi-triple-peaked Br11 line profile is reported for HD 253659, one of several stars exhibiting intra- and/or extra-species V/R and radial velocity variation within individual spectra. Br11 profiles are presented for all discussed stars, as are full APOGEE spectra for a portion of the sample.