Radial velocities of the Be star HR 2142

We measured radial velocities for the Be star component from these spectra and computed a revised orbit. In order to search for the spectral signature of the hot subdwarf, we cross-correlated the short wavelength end of each IUE spectrum with a model hot star spectrum, and then we used the predicted Doppler shifts of the subdwarf to shift-and-add all the cross-correlation functions to the frame of the subdwarf.

This merged function shows the weak signal from the spectral lines of the hot star, and a best fit is obtained with a mass ratio M_2_/M_1_=0.07+/-0.02, companion temperature T_eff_>=43+/-5kK, projected rotational velocity Vsini<30km/s, and a monochromatic flux ratio near 1170{AA} of f_2_/f_1_>0.009+/-0.001. This hot subdwarf creates a one-armed spiral, tidal wake in the disk of the Be star, and we present a circumbinary disk model that can explain the occurrence of shell absorption lines by gas enhancements that occur where gas crossing the gap created by the subdwarf strikes the disk boundaries.