Discovery of a New Dusty B[e] Star in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

We present new optical spectroscopic and archival Spitzer IRAC photometric observations of a B-type star in the SMC cluster NGC 346, NGC 346:KWBBe 200. We detect numerous Fe II, [O I], and [Fe II] lines, as well as strong P-Cygni profile H I emission lines in its optical spectrum. The star's near-IR color and optical to IR SED clearly indicate the presence of an infrared excess, consistent with the presence of gas and warm, T ~800 K, circumstellar dust. Based on a crude estimate of the star's luminosity and the observed spectroscopic line profile morphologies, we find that the star is likely to be a B-type supergiant. We suggest that NGC 346:KWBBe 200 is a newly discovered B[e] supergiant star, and represents the fifth such object to be identified in the SMC.

12 pages, accepted by ApJ

References in corpus (9)

• The Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) for the Spitzer Space Telescope
• Past and present star formation in the SMC: NGC 346 and its neighborhood
• The Role of Evolutionary Age and Metallicity in the Formation of Classical Be Circumstellar Disks I. New Candidate Be Stars in the LMC, SMC, and Milky Way
• The Discovery of a Population of Pre-Main Sequence Stars in N66/NGC346 from Deep HST/ACS Image
• Asphericity and clumpiness in the winds of Luminous Blue Variables
• Relation between the luminosity of young stellar objects and their circumstellar environment
• A Change in the Physical State of $\eta$ Carinae?
• Properties of galactic B[e] supergiants. IV. Hen3-298 and Hen3-303
• The Asymmetrical Wind of the Candidate Luminous Blue Variable MWC 314

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Spitzer SAGE-SMC Infrared Photometry of Massive Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Spitzer Infrared Spectrographic point source classification in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Variability of Massive Stars with Known Spectral Types in the Small Magellanic Cloud Using 8 Years of OGLE-III Data
• The Role of Evolutionary Age and Metallicity in the Formation of Classical Be Circumstellar Disks II. Assessing the Evolutionary Nature of Candidate Disk Systems
• Optical spectra of 5 new Be/X-ray Binaries in the Small Magellanic Cloud and the link of the supergiant B[e] star LHA 115-S 18 with an X-ray source
• An In-Depth View of the Mid-Infrared Properties of Point Sources and the Diffuse ISM in the SMC Giant HII Region, N66
• The study of unclassified B[e] stars and candidates in the Galaxy and Magellanic Clouds
• Discovery of New, Dust-Poor B[e] Supergiants in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• A Census of B[e] Supergiants
• Two Be stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud with B[e]-like properties