IR excesses in Be stars

Abstract

Infrared excesses are empirically derived for a sample of bright Be stars based on IRAS data and previously published near-infrared photometry. The excesses are compared with published H-alpha luminosities and are found to be correlated. The data are compared with the theoretically expected relation between the sum of free-free and free-bound continua and the H-alpha recombination-line intensity from a common envelope. The inclusion of temperature and optical-depth effects is necessary to produce agreement between observations and theory. No significant correlation is detected between L(IR)/L(H-alpha) ratios and rotational velocities.