Structure, strength and polarization changes in radio source SS 433.

Observations of radio jets associated with the optically observed jets believed responsible for the moving emission line systems seen in SS433 are discussed. The observations were obtained at 1465, 4885 and 15,035 MHz from September 1972 to June 1980 with the partially complete VLA. Aperture synthesis maps of total intensity, linear polarization vectors, and linear polarized intensity for six epochs are presented which indicate significant changes in extended structures of a scale of 0.5-1.0 arcsec on a time scale of one to two weeks. The extended features, with position angles of 100 + or - 20 deg, can be traced over periods of 200 days with a proper motion of 0.0088 arcsec/day and constant position angle, consistent with that of the optical jets. If the velocity of the polarized radio features is the same as that of the optical emission lines, a value of 5.1 kpc is obtained for the source distance. Magnetic fields are estimated at 0.001 to 0.01 G, implying synchrotron loss lifetimes greater than 10 to the 9th sec and thus negligible synchrotron losses in comparison with adiabatic losses associated with a relativistic plasma expension.