On Be star candidates and possible blue pre-main sequence objects in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

Recently the OGLE experiment has provided accurate light curves and colours for about 2 millions stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud. We have examined this database for its content of Be stars, applying some selection criteria, and we have found a sample of ∼1000 candidates. Some of these stars show beautiful light curves with amazing variations never observed in any Galactic variable. We find outbursts in 13% of the sample (type-1 stars), high and low states in 15%, periodic variations in 7%, and the usual variations seen in Galactic Be stars in 65% of the cases. The Galactic counterparts of type-1 objects could be the outbursting Be stars found by Hubert & Floquet (1998) after the analysis of Hipparcos photometry. We discuss the possibility that type-1 stars could correspond to Be stars with accreting white dwarf companions or alternatively, blue pre-main sequence stars surrounded by thermally unstable accretion disks. We provide coordinates and basic photometric information for these stars and some examples of light curves.