Short-term variability and mass loss in Be stars

Abstract

Context. Empirical evidence for the involvement of nonradial pulsations (NRPs) in the mass loss from Be stars ranges from (i) a singular case (μ Cen) of repetitive mass ejections triggered by multi-mode beating to (ii) several photometric reports about enormous numbers of pulsation modes that suddenly appear during outbursts and on to (iii) effective single-mode pulsators.