Be Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Abhinna Sundar Samantaray , ARI
Star clusters, once thought to be simple, coeval systems, often harbor multiple stellar populations with distinct chemical compositions and ages. In this talk, I will discuss the role of stellar rotation in driving this phenomenon, with a focus on how rotational mixing and mass loss can create chemical and evolutionary diversity within clusters. I will discuss how rapidly rotating Be stars - characterized by their hydrogen emission lines (Halpha and Hbeta), decretion gas disks, and high rotational velocities can contribute to the formation of multiple populations through mechanisms such as chemical enrichment, rotationally-induced evolutionary differences, and material ejection. We conducted a search for Be star candidates in the star clusters (SCs) (and the field) in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and the Bridge using the STEP survey, carried out with the VLT Survey Telescope (VST). With the help of STEP deep Halpha photometry, we retrieved numerous new Be star candidates in the 64 Young SCs and their field, compared to the literature-based observations. Serendipitously, during our Be star hunt, we confirmed some known Planetary Nebulae (PNe) (+some other emission stars like Herbig Ae/Be stars, C stars, Mira variables, etc.), and found some new PNe candidates with extremely high Halpha emission using STEP photometry.
ARI Institute Colloquium
21 Nov 2024, 11:15
ARI, Moenchhofstrasse 12-14, Seminarraum 1.OG

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