Radio observations of IRAS-selected Southern hemisphere classical Be stars

Abstract

We present the first radio observations of a sample of 13 optically and IR bright southern hemisphere classical Be stars made from the Australian Telescope Compact Array at 3.5cm and 6.3cm simultaneously. One star, Cen was detected at 3.5cm and a second, ? Cen was also thought to have been detected; further observations of this source are required to confirm this detection. No sources were detected at 6.3cm, although Cen was previously detected at this wavelength by other observers at a higher flux than our detection limit. The radio observations show that the spectral energy distribution undergoes a turnover between the far IR and radio wavelengths, as was seen in previous studies. Likewise we find no simple correlation between far IR and radio flux. Lower limits to the outer disc radius were found to be of the order of few hundred solar radii; of the order of those found previously by Taylor et al.