A Catalogue of Be Stars in the Direction of the Galactic Bulge

TL;DR

This paper presents the first systematic catalog of Be star candidates in the Galactic Bulge, based on variability and photometric criteria, providing a valuable resource for future spectroscopic studies.

Contribution

It introduces the first large-scale catalog of Be star candidates in the Galactic Bulge, identified through a systematic search using OGLE II data.

Findings

Identified 29,053 Be star candidates in the Galactic Bulge.

Found 198 candidates with periodic light variations.

Approximately 1,500 stars are highly likely to be Be stars.

Abstract

Detailed studies of Be stars in environments with different metallicities like the Magellanic Clouds or the Galactic bulge are necessary to understand the formation and evolution mechanisms of the circumstellar disks. However, a detailed study of Be stars in the direction of the bulge of our own galaxy has not been performed until now. We report the first systematic search for Be star candidates in the direction of the Galactic Bulge. We present the catalogue, give a brief description of the stellar variability seen, and show some light curve examples. We searched for stars matching specific criteria of magnitude, color and variability in the I band. Our search was conducted on the 48 OGLE II fields of the Galactic Bulge.This search has resulted in 29053 Be star candidates, 198 of them showing periodic light variations. Nearly 1500 stars in this final sample are almost certainly Be stars, providing an ideal sample for spectroscopic multiobject follow-up studies.