Observational studies of the Herbig Ae/Be stars. I - High-resolution H-alpha profiles

Abstract

High-resolution H-alpha emission-line profiles are presented for 14 of the Herbig Ae/Be stars, generally considered to be pre-main-sequence objects. Very diverse profile structures are exhibited, including simple emission lines, double-peaked lines, and variations of the P Cygni profile. Despite the small sample, some systematic velocity trends are indicated. The observations are compared with theoretical models in the literature; models including rotation seem necessary, and the infall-rotation model recently proposed for T Tauri stars by Ulrich (1976) may have applicability.