Azimuthal structures in the wind and chromosphere of the herbig Ae star ab aur. preliminary results from the MUSICOS 1992 campaign

MUSICOS (for MUlti-SIte COntinuous Spectroscopy) is an international project to facilitate and organize world-wide multi-site campaigns in high resolution spectroscopy, in view of obtaining a complete time coverage of various types of variable stellar phenomena. In the framework of this project a vast spectroscopic campaign was organized in December 1992, involving 8 sites well distributed in longitude around the Earth. The observations concerned three scientific programs, among which was the study of azimuthal structures in the wind and chromosphere of the pre-Main-Sequence Herbig Ae star AB Aur. The He i 5876 Å line of AB Aur, which is formed in the expanding chromosphere of this star, in the innermost parts of its wind, was monitored at a resolution of 30000, nearly continuously for about 4 days. A spectacular variability of this line was discovered, the profile changing from pure emission to a composite profile including a deep absorption component in the course of a few hours. This variability can be the signature of azimuthal structures in the wind of AB Aur. We present the data collected during the campaign, and discuss possible interpretations of the spectacular variations of the He i 5876 Å line.