Neutral material around the B[e] supergiant star LHA 115-S 65^*

An outflowing disk or a detached Keplerian rotating disk?

¹ Astronomický ústav, Akademie věd České republiky, Fričova 298, 251 65 Ondřejov, Czech Republic e-mail: kraus@sunstel.asu.cas.cz
² UMR 6525 H. Fizeau, Univ. Nice Sophia Antipolis, CNRS, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Av. Copernic, 06130 Grasse, France e-mail: Marcelo.Borges@obs-azur.fr
³ Observatório Nacional, Rua General José Cristino 77, 20921-400 São Cristovão, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil e-mail: borges@on.br

Received: 23 December 2009
Accepted: 21 April 2010

Abstract

Context. B[e] supergiants are surrounded by large amounts of hydrogen neutral material, traced by the emission in the optical [Oi] lines. This neutral material is most plausibly located within their dense, cool circumstellar disks, which are formed from the (probably non-spherically symmetric) wind material released by the star. Neither the formation mechanism nor the resulting structure and internal kinematics of these disks (or disk-like outflows) are well known. However, rapid rotation, lifting the material from the equatorial surface region, seems to play a fundamental role.

Aims. The B[e] supergiant LHA 115-S 65 (in short: S 65) in the Small Magellanic Cloud is one of the two most rapidly rotating B[e] stars known. Its almost edge-on orientation allows a detailed kinematical study of its optically thin forbidden emission lines. With a focus on the rather strong [Oi] lines, we intend to test the two plausible disk scenarios: the outflowing and the Keplerian rotating disk.

Methods. Based on high- and low-resolution optical spectra, we investigate the density and temperature structure in those disk regions that are traced by the [Oi] emission to constrain the disk sizes and mass fluxes needed to explain the observed [Oi] line luminosities. In addition, we compute the emerging line profiles expected for either an outflowing disk or a Keplerian rotating disk, which can directly be compared to the observed profiles.

Results. Both disk scenarios deliver reasonably good fits to the line luminosities and profiles of the [Oi] lines. Nevertheless, the Keplerian disk model seems to be the more realistic one, because it also agrees with the kinematics derived from the large number of additional lines in the spectrum. As additional support for the presence of a high-density, gaseous disk, the spectrum shows two very intense and clearly double-peaked [Caii] lines. We discuss a possible disk-formation mechanism, and similarities between S 65 and the group of Luminous Blue Variables.