Properties of galactic B[e] supergiants. I. CI Camelopardalis

¹ Ritter Observatory, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606-3390, USA
² Central Astronomical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences at Pulkovo, 196140, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
³ Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Karachai-Cirkassian Republic, Nizhnij Arkhyz, 369167, Russia
⁴ Isaac Newton Institute of Chile, SAO Branch

Corresponding author: A. S. Miroshnichenko, anatoly@physics.utoledo.edu

Received: 10 April 2002
Accepted: 23 May 2002

Abstract

We present a study of the high-resolution ( 000) optical spectrum of the B[e] supergiant CI Cam obtained 4 years after its all-wavelength outburst. The profiles of most of the emission lines show a triple-peaked structure, an effect previously not observed. The Na i D-lines clearly have 2 interstellar absorption components, suggesting that the system is most probably located within the Perseus arm at a distance of ≤3 kpc. Uncertainties of the distance toward the object, its luminosity, and physical parameters of the circumstellar disk are discussed. Simple observational tests are suggested to clarify these issues.