A hot, rapidly rotating B-type star surrounded by a circumstellar disk of gas that produces hydrogen emission lines. These stars spin so fast they approach their breakup velocity, ejecting material that forms an equatorial disk.
Named for their spectral type 'B' combined with 'e' for emission, indicating the presence of emission lines in their spectra. First classified in the early 20th century when astronomers noticed some B stars showed hydrogen emission rather than absorption.
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