H{alpha} stars in M31 HST photometry

The stars were selected from ~5000 spectra, collected as part of the Spectroscopic and Photometric Landscape of Andromeda's Stellar Halo survey using Keck II/DEIMOS. We used six-filter Hubble Space Telescope photometry from the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury survey to classify and investigate the properties of the H{alpha} stars.

We identified five distinct categories of H{alpha} star: B-type main-sequence (MS) stars, 'transitioning'-MS (T-MS) stars, red core He burning (RHeB) stars, non-C-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, and C-rich AGB stars. We found that ~12 per cent of B-type stars exhibit H{alpha} emission (Be stars). The frequency of Be to all B stars is known to vary with the metallicity of their environment.