Spectropolarimetry of the H-alpha line in Herbig AeBe stars.pdf

a r X i v : 0 7 0 8 .0 6 0 1 v 1 [ a s t r o - p h ] 4 A u g 2 0 0 7 Spectropolarimetry of the Hα line in Herbig Ae/Be stars D. M. Harrington and J.R. Kuhn Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu-HI-96822 dmh@ifa.hawaii.edu ABSTRACT Using the HiVIS spectropolarimeter built for the Haleakala 3.7m AEOS tele- scope, we have obtained a large number of high precision spectropolarimetrc observations (284) of Herbig AeBe stars collected over 53 nights totaling more than 300 hours of observing. Our sample of five HAeBe stars: AB Aurigae, MWC480, MWC120, MWC158 and HD58647, all show systematic variations in the linear polarization amplitude and direction as a function of time and wave- length near the Hα line. In all our stars, the Hα line profiles show evidence of an intervening disk or outflowing wind, evidenced by strong emission with an absorptive component. The linear polarization varies by 0.2% to 1.5% with the change typically centered in the absorptive part of the line profile. These obser- vations are inconsistent with a simple disk-scattering model or a depolarization model which produce polarization changes centered on the emmissive core. We speculate that polarized absorption via optical pumping of the intervening gas may be the cause. Subject headings: techniques: polarimetric — stars: pre-main sequence — cir- cumstellar matter — stars: emission line, Be — stars: individual(AB Aurigae, MWC480) 1. Introduction High-resolution linear spectropolarimetry measures the change in linear polarization across a spectral line and is a useful probe of circumstellar environments at small spatial scales. Circumstellar disks, rotationally distorted winds, magnetic fields, asymmetric radia- tion fields (optical pumping), and in general, any scattering asymmetry can produce a change in linear polarization across a spectral line such as Hα. These signatures can directly con- strain the density and geometry of the circumstellar material. Typical spectropola