Detection of accreting gas toward HD 45677 - A newly recognized, Herbig Be proto-planetary system

We report the detection of high-velocity, accreting gas toward the BE(e) star with IR excess and bipolar nebula, HD 45677. High-velocity (+200 to +400 km/s), variable column density gas is visible in all IUE spectra from 1979 to 1992 in transitions of Si II, C II, Al III, Fe III, Si IV, and C IV. Low-velocity absorption profiles from low oscillator strength transitions of Si II, Fe II, and Zn II exhibit double-peaked absorption profiles similar to those previously reported in optical spectra of FU Orionis objects. The UV absorption data, together with previously reported analyses of the IR excess and polarization of this object, suggest that HD 45677 is a massive, Herbig Be star with an actively accreting circumstellar, protoplanetary disk.