0000000000377024
AUTHOR
M. J. Gorrod
A rapid H? change in X Persei
A trend of decreasing Hα emission over a period of thirty minutes is apparent in a series of spectra of X Persei taken on 31 December, 1987. This change appears to be astrophysical in origin and it indicates an anomalous state for X Persei that may be linked to its transition from a Be star to a normal B star, which occurred sometime between March 1988 and November 1990.
A phase change in X Persei
We present a series of optical spectroscopic and infrared photometric observations of the Be/X-ray binary system X Per made over the last four years. Over this period the Hα line profile changed from emission to absorption, accompanied by a decrease in the infrared flux by over a magnitude and a flattening of the infrared spectrum. Such behaviour is consistent with the loss of the circumstellar disc or shell of material around the Be star and the reversion to a normal O/B-type star.