Outbursts and Disk Variability in Be Stars

In order to study the growth and evolution of circumstellar disks around classical Be stars, we analyze optical timeseries photometry from the KELT survey with simultaneous infrared and visible spectroscopy from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment survey and Be Star Spectra database for a sample of 160 Galactic classical Be stars. The systems studied here show variability including transitions from a diskless to a disk-possessing state (and vice versa), and persistent disks that vary in strength, being replenished at either regularly or irregularly occurring intervals. We detect disk-building events (outbursts) in the light curves of 28% of our sample. Outbursts are more commonly observed in early-(57%), compared to mid-(27%) and late-type (8%) systems. A given system may show anywhere between 0 and 40 individual outbursts in its light curve, with amplitudes ranging up to similar to 0.5 mag and event durations between similar to 2 and 1000 days. We study how both the photometry and spectroscopy change together during active episodes of disk growth or dissipation, revealing details about the evolution of the circumstellar environment. We demonstrate that photometric activity is linked to changes in the inner disk, and show that, at least in some cases, the disk growth process is asymmetrical. Observational evidence of Be star disks both growing and clearing from the inside out is presented. The duration of disk buildup and dissipation phases are measured for 70 outbursts, and we find that the average outburst takes about twice as long to dissipate as it does to build up in optical photometry. Our analysis hints that dissipation of the inner disk occurs relatively slowly for late-type Be stars.