The Birth of Be Star Disks II. A High-Resolution Spectroscopic Campaign and TESS Observations of an Outburst of the Classical Be star {\lambda} Pavonis

TL;DR

This study presents high-resolution spectroscopic and TESS photometric observations of a disk outburst in the Be star lambda Pavonis, revealing rapid disk formation, complex pulsations, and the interplay between photometric and spectroscopic variability.

Contribution

It provides detailed temporal analysis of disk formation and dissipation in a Be star, highlighting the relationship between pulsations and disk dynamics with high-cadence data.

Findings

Disk built within 5 days in optical lines

Disk circularized in about 12 days

Fast non-photometric pulsational variations observed

Abstract

Be stars are rapidly-rotating B stars that have shown emission lines originating in a circumstellar disk. The mechanisms that lead to disk formation and dissipation are not known although progress has been made with some systems. We present a study of a disk outburst of the Be star lambda Pavonis. Our dataset comprises 698 high-resolution spectra contemporaneous with TESS photometry in 2023. Near the end of TESS monitoring, the star began disk building from a pristine diskless state. We find the disk built within 5 days in optical H I and He I lines, while the disk circularized in about 12 days. The disk began to decay in higher excitation He I first, then lower excitation transitions, with the decay ending last for H-alpha. We examine non-radial pulsations both through TESS photometry and the line profile variations (LPVs) in the spectroscopy. Our analysis indicates that two periodicities seen in TESS photometry (at 1.644 and 1.485 cycles/d) are not seen in the spectral lines before, during, or after the outburst. The strongest photometric signal is a periodicity at 0.163 cycles/d, which appears as a difference between the two weaker signals and is visible in the spectra without any apparent changes in amplitude or phase. We additionally find evidence for fast non-photometric pulsational variations over the course of spectroscopy obtained before, during, and after the outburst. These fast LPVs are strong, and interfere with the two weaker signals, hampering our ability to detect them in spectroscopy.