Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 131, 401-429
R.V.Yudin 1 - A.Evans2
Send offprint request: R.V.Yudin
1 - Central Astronomical Observatory of the Russian
Academy of Sciences at Pulkovo, 196140 Saint-Petersburg, Russia
e-mail: ruslan@pulkovo.spb.su
2 -
Department of Physics, Keele University, Keele,
Staffordshire, ST5 5BG, UK
Received June 10, 1997; accepted February 2, 1998
We present and discuss optical polarimetry of a large group
(60 objects) of peculiar early-type stars (Herbig Ae/Be stars and
candidate members, B[e] stars, extreme emission line objects etc.). Most
were taken from "A new catalogue of members and candidate
members of Herbig Ae/Be stellar group'' The et al.
(1994). For 40 out of the 60 objects polarization was measured
for the first time. On the basis of the data we draw conclusions about the
circumstellar shell configuration and orientation for several objects.
Polarimetric variability on different time-scales (minutes ...hours
...days) was investigated, as well as comparison with earlier
measurements to investigate variability over longer time-scales. No circular
polarization was detected to a level in most of the
investigated stars. Polarimetric data obtained here as well
as data available from the literature were analyzed from the point of
investigating the evolutionary status of the objects. The relationship
between the polarimetric and photometric data was also investigated.
Key words: polarization -- circumstellar matter: stars emission-line, Be -- stars: pre-main sequence
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