Model Atmospheres of Be Stars

Abstract

The basic concept of what a Be star is we owe to Struve (1931). His proposal that these stars are rapidly rotating and have an extended, disc-like, circumstellar envelope is still the basis for all models of Be stars. Unfortunately, progress in understanding the dynamics of Be stars has been painfully slow, a consequence of the very complex nature of the problem. As yet there does not exist a self-consistent unique model of any Be star.