Hi everyone,
So far I've been a bit vague about the goals of this project. My main scientific goal is to select just a few classical Be stars (~4) and monitor them very intensively simultaneous with the TESS observations. The selection process takes a lot of work because it is necessary to go though each Be star and look at KELT light curves, all BeSS data, literature, SEDs, sky images... basically everything, and then choose the ideal few Be stars to monitor. Of course, also having sparse coverage simultaneous with TESS for lots of Be stars is also quite valuable in its own right.
Anyway, for the next two months, V357_Lac = HD 212044 is that ideal star. It is bright (V = 6.6), very active in its photometry (and so is likely to eject mass during our monitoring campaign), variable in all archival spectroscopy, has a firmly established spectral type, and is in two consecutive TESS sectors.
This google drive folder has plots that speak to the beauty of this star for monitoring its variability:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1o0FXb ... eU_nhZ0hg0
This is in TESS sectors 16 + 17, being observed right now from Sept. 11 - Nov. 02.
I plan to use ~80 hours of telescope time to get high SNR echelle spectra for this star with 3-6 observations per night for about 25 consecutive days. The main goal is to closely observe the photospheric lines (mostly He) to measure their variations due to pulsation (and so to understand the geometry of pulsation on the stellar surface), and also variations that happen before/during/after mass ejection (which we can infer from Hydrogen and other metal lines). The hope is that this will help in understanding how Be stars eject mass and what happens at the star-disk interface.
It will be valuable to have as much spectroscopic coverage of this star before, during, and after the 25 days where I will be intensively monitoring V357_Lac. I will probably being the 25 days on Oct. 1. I have made this star the highest priority on the target list spreadsheet, and I encourage anyone who is interested to pay special attention to this star. The higher SNR the better. If you can achieve a SNR of 100 or greater, that would be excellent.
If you are interested in and able to work on this star, please let me know, especially if you have any questions about an observing strategy. What I will request from individuals will depend on how many observers are involved and their setups and locations.
I've been really impressed with the observations lately! Thanks for all the awesome work! I'm looking forward to see how they compare with the TESS data, some of which should be available soon. Also, the TESS mission will be extended past its original 2 year primary mission. It is not yet announced what the observing strategy will be, but I will definitely continue to submit proposals for Be stars with TESS.