Toward Mapping the Detailed Density Structure
of Classical Be Circumstellar Disks
J. P. Wisniewski1,2,3,
A. F. Kowalski4,5,
K. S. Bjorkman3,6,
J. E. Bjorkman3,6,
and
A. C. Carciofi7
1
NASA GSFC, Code 667, Greenbelt, MD 20771
2
NPP Fellow
3
Visiting Astronomer, NASA IRTF
4
Department of Physics, University of Chicago, 5640 S. Ellis Ave
Chicago, IL 60637
5
Current Address: Department of Astronomy, University of
Washington, Box 351580 Seattle, WA 98195
6
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Toledo, MS113,
Toledo, OH 43606
7
Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências
Atmosféricas, Universidade de São Paulo,
Rua do Matão 1226,
Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP, 05508-900, Brazil
The first results from a near-contemporaneous optical and infrared
spectroscopic observing program designed to probe the detailed density
structure of classical Be circumstellar disks are presented. We
report the discovery of asymmetrical infrared emission lines of He I,
O I, Fe II, and the Brackett, Paschen, and Pfund series lines of H I
which exhibit an opposite V/R orientation (V > R) to that observed
for the optical Balmer
H
line (V < R) in the classical Be
star
 Tau. We interpret these data as evidence that the
density wave which characterizes
Tau's disk has a
significantly different average azimuthal morphology in the inner disk
region as compared to the outer disk region. A follow-up
multi-wavelength observational campaign to trace the temporal
evolution of these line profile morphologies, along with detailed
theoretical modeling, is suggested to test this hypothesis.
Accepted by ApJL
Preprints from
jwisnie@milkyway.gsfc.nasa.gov
or on the web at
http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0701010
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