Shell star variables. Pleione and Gamma Cassiopeiae itself are both variable stars that have intermittent shell episodes where strong shell features appear in the spectrum and the brightness increases or decreases significantly. At other times the shell is not detectable in the spectrum, and even the emission lines may disappear. Shell star A shell star is a star having a spectrum that shows extremely broad absorption lines, plus some very narrow absorption lines. They typically also show some emission lines, usually from the Balmer series but occasionally of other lines. The broad absorption lines are due to rapid rotation of the photosphere,
Shell star of spectral class B. However, partly because of this many cooler shell stars have remained undetected. The Be phenomenon, and hence the term Be star itself, is now widely applied to similar stars not only of spectral class B, but also A and sometimes O and F. Shell stars often show variability in their spectra and brightness. The shell features may come and go, with the star changing from a shell star to a normal B star or Be star. Shell stars which show irregular variability due to changes in, or the disappearance of, the "shell" are called Gamma Cassiopeiae