Abstract
In order to explain the variable Hα emission and the eclipse-like light variation of σ Ori E, we investigated the circumstellar gas trapped by the stellar magnetic field and corotating with the star. By considering the potential along the magnetic field line, we found that the gas concentrates to a potential minimum. The circumstellar gas forms either two condensations or a disk, depending on the inclination of the magnetic dipole to the stellar rotation axis. The geometrical thickness of the circumstellar disk, of about 0.2 stellar radii, and the distance from the center of the star to the inner edge of the disk, of about 3 stellar radii, were obtained. The Hα emission line profile at its maximum phase and the amplitude of light variation were calculated by assuming the isothermal gas in LTE with the maximum gas density which the magnetic field can hold. The model gives good agreement with observation in the low obliquity case, and also explains the phase correlation among the Hα emission maximum, the light minimum, and the magnetic extreme. The model, however, failed to explain the large IR excess in theM band.
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Nakajima, R. The circumstellar gas of sigma orionis E. Astrophys Space Sci 116, 285–297 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00653783
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00653783