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D. H. Berger, D. R. Gies (Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy, Georgia State University)
Models of the evolution of intermediate mass close binaries suggest that the mass gainer will be spun up to near critical rotation by mass transfer, and these rapid rotators may appear as emission line, Be stars. The companion in more massive systems is predicted to explode as a supernova, and the remaining Be star may obtain a moderate runaway velocity due to the sudden mass loss of the supernova event. We present here a study of the peculiar space velocity distribution of some 400 Be stars from the catalog of Jaschek & Egret (1982) plus several Be X-ray binaries (Be + neutron star systems). Proper motions are derived from the Hipparcos Catalog and radial velocity measurements (of varying quality) are taken from the Simbad database. Distances are estimated from Hipparcos parallaxes for nearby targets and from a visual magnitude calibration for distant stars. We present several candidate high velocity systems, and discuss limitations on the binary model for Be stars.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: berger@chara.gsu.edu