2004ApJ...612.1136B

We report the detection of a weak emission feature at around 4851 Å in the spectra of the symbiotic stars HM Sge and V1016 Cyg and identify these as Raman-scattered He II features. This feature arises from the inelastic scattering of He II (2-8) photons on the ground state of neutral hydrogen. Raman-scattered He II at 4851 Å was first identified by van Groningen in the symbiotic star RR Tel and later in the young planetary nebula NGC 7027. V1016 Cyg is one of many stars that is known to exhibit strong, broad Raman-scattered O VI features in its spectrum. These data represent the first detection of Raman-scattered He II in the symbiotic star HM Sge. A brief discussion on the implications of this identification is presented.