RADIO OBSERVATIONS OF IRAS-SELECTED SOUTHERN-HEMISPHERE CLASSICAL BE STARS

We present the first radio observations of a sample of 13 optically an d IR-bright Southern hemisphere classical Be stars made from the Austr alian Telescope Compact Array at 3.5 and 6.3 cm simultaneously. One st ar, delta Cen, was detected at 3.5 cm, and a second, mu Cen, was also thought to have been detected; further observations of this source are required to confirm this detection. No sources were detected at 6.3 c m, although delta Cen was previously detected at this wavelength by ot her observers at a higher flux than our detection limit. The radio obs ervations show that the spectral energy distribution undergoes a turno ver between the far-IR and radio wavelengths, as was seen in previous studies. Likewise we find no simple correlation between far-IR and rad io flux. Lower limits to the outer disc radius were found to be of the order of a few hundred solar radii i,e. of the order of those found p reviously by Taylor et al.