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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

An all-sky catalogue of Be transition stars from WISE and Gaia

  • Qi Jia1
  • Mingjie Jian2
  • Gang Li3
  • Qian Cui4
  • Chengyuan Li1
4 affiliations
  1. 1School of Physics and Astronomy, Sun Yat-sen University , Zhuhai 519082 ,
  2. 2Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA ,
  3. 3Centre for Astrophysics, University of Southern Queensland , Toowoomba, QLD 4350 ,
  4. 4School of Physics and Astronomy, China West Normal University , Nanchong 637009 ,
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Abstract

We present an all-sky catalogue of classical Be stars undergoing transitions between quiescent B-type and active Be-star phases, based on Gaia DR3 astrometry and multi-epoch mid-infrared photometry from WISE and NEOWISE-R. From a Gaia-selected parent sample of 4.2 million candidate OBA stars, we identify Be transition stars through correlated variability in W1 magnitude and W1 − W2 colour, which traces circumstellar disk formation and dissipation. The final catalogue contains 3,300 Be transition stars, including 2,743 newly identified objects, and provides a large, homogeneous sample for studying Be outburst activity across the sky. The median durations of the measured outburst and decay phases are 459 and 478 days, respectively, consistent with previous WISE-based measurements and compatible with the long disk-evolution timescales expected in the viscous decretion disk framework. As an initial application, we use TESS photometry for 3,017 targets to identify 63 eclipsing binary systems hosting Be transition stars, including 33 Algol-type, 17 Beta Lyrae-type, and 13 W Ursae Majoris-type systems. Among the multi-epoch LAMOST spectra, two sources show candidate radial-velocity shifts exceeding 20 km s −1; their line-profile behaviour suggests that RV variability in active Be transition stars may be influenced by outburst-related line-profile changes rather than being an unambiguous indicator of binary motion. This catalogue provides a basis for future statistical studies of Be outbursts, disk evolution, and their connection with binarity and spectroscopic variability.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{jia2026allsky,
  title = {{An all-sky catalogue of Be transition stars from WISE and Gaia}},
  author = {Qi Jia and Mingjie Jian and Gang Li and Qian Cui and Chengyuan Li},
  journal = {Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1093/mnras/stag2077},
  url = {https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag2077/9005955},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - An all-sky catalogue of Be transition stars from WISE and Gaia
AU  - Qi Jia
AU  - Mingjie Jian
AU  - Gang Li
AU  - Qian Cui
AU  - Chengyuan Li
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/31
JO  - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
DO  - 10.1093/mnras/stag2077
UR  - https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag2077/9005955
AB  - We present an all-sky catalogue of classical Be stars undergoing transitions between quiescent B-type and active Be-star phases, based on Gaia DR3 astrometry and multi-epoch mid-infrared photometry from WISE and NEOWISE-R. From a Gaia-selected parent sample of 4.2 million candidate OBA stars, we identify Be transition stars through correlated variability in W1 magnitude and W1 − W2 colour, which traces circumstellar disk formation and dissipation. The final catalogue contains 3,300 Be transition stars, including 2,743 newly identified objects, and provides a large, homogeneous sample for studying Be outburst activity across the sky. The median durations of the measured outburst and decay phases are 459 and 478 days, respectively, consistent with previous WISE-based measurements and compatible with the long disk-evolution timescales expected in the viscous decretion disk framework. As an initial application, we use TESS photometry for 3,017 targets to identify 63 eclipsing binary systems hosting Be transition stars, including 33 Algol-type, 17 Beta Lyrae-type, and 13 W Ursae Majoris-type systems. Among the multi-epoch LAMOST spectra, two sources show candidate radial-velocity shifts exceeding 20 km s −1; their line-profile behaviour suggests that RV variability in active Be transition stars may be influenced by outburst-related line-profile changes rather than being an unambiguous indicator of binary motion. This catalogue provides a basis for future statistical studies of Be outbursts, disk evolution, and their connection with binarity and spectroscopic variability.
SN  - 0035-8711
SN  - 1365-2966
ER  -