Dynamical Processes in the Formation of Hot-Star Disks
Abstract
The characteristic signature of Be stars is the Balmer line emission understood to arise in a circumstellar disk. Unlike the accretion disks of protostars or mass-exchange binary systems, the evolved and generally single or wide-binary status of Be stars seems to require that its disk must form from mass ejection (a.k.a. decretion) from the star itself. In this review, I use analogies with launching orbital satellites to discuss candidate processes (radiation, pulsation, magnetic) for driving such orbital mass ejection, with particular emphasis on the role of the rapid, possibly near-critical, rotation of Be stars in facilitating the formation of their signature disks.
- Publication:
-
The Nature and Evolution of Disks Around Hot Stars
- Pub Date:
- November 2005
- Bibcode:
- 2005ASPC..337..101O