The relationship of the Oe to the Be stars

Oe stars are earlier type analogues of the better known Be class. These stars have relatively narrow emission in the hydrogen lines and sometimes in the helium lines, which often appears to be double. In several Oe stars, the emission is intermittent. Other properties of the class include relatively broad absorption lines and luminosities near the main sequence. Line profiles in three representative Oe stars are presented and discussed. The similarity of the spectra of Oe and Be stars suggests that the formation mechanism for the emitting region, whatever it is, must extend to the mid O-type stars, at least. (Auth.)