The Spectrum of SS 433 in the H and K Bands
Abstract
SS 433 is an X-ray binary and the source of sub-relativistic, precessing, baryonic jets. We present high-resolution spectrograms of SS 433 in the infrared H and K bands. The spectrum is dominated by hydrogen and helium emission lines. The precession phase of the emission lines from the jet continues to be described by a constant period. The limit on any secularly changing period is |dP/dt| ≤ 10-5. The He I λ2.0587 μm line has complex and variable P-Cygni absorption features produced by an inhomogeneous wind with a maximum outflow velocity near 900 km s-1. The He II emission lines in the spectrum also arise in this wind. The higher members of the hydrogen Brackett lines show a double-peaked profile with symmetric wings extending more than ±1500 km s-1 from the line center. The lines display radial velocity variations in phase with the radial velocity variation expected of the compact star, and they show a distortion during disk eclipse that we interpret as rotational distortion. We fit the line profiles with a model in which the emission comes from the surface of a symmetric, Keplerian accretion disk around the compact object. The outer edge of the disk has velocities that vary from 110 to 190 km s-1. These comparatively low velocities place a strong constraint on the mass of the compact star: Its mass must be less than 2.2 M⊙ and is probably less than 1.6 M⊙.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #229
- Pub Date:
- January 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017AAS...22934401R