Criteria for the Discovery of Beta Cephei Stars According to the Mu-Mechanism Theory

RICHARD STOTHERS AND NORMAN R. SIMON Goddard Institute for Space Studies NASA, New York ;\1o1 1 19, 1970 Observational discriminants are proposed to test the -mechanism theory of fi Cephei stars as advanced by Stothers and Simon (1969). These include: helium and nitrogen overabundances, far ultraviolet ux excesses (high surface temperature), narrow (occasionally broad) spectral line widths, and binary character. A list of potential fi Cep candidates, comprising 24 spectroscopic binaries with spectral type 09-B4 Ill-V and a large orbital ratio of masses, has been compiled for the benefit of observers interested in searching for new fi Cep stars. The data thus far accumulated are not in contradiction with, and occasionally positively support, the tt-mechanism theory.