INFRARED VARIABILITY AND SPECTRUM OF SS 433.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Infrared monitoring of SS 433 from April 13, 1979 UT to April 17, 1979 UT inclusive at J, H, K, and L wavelengths demonstrated the variability of this source over time scales of days with tentative evidence of much shorter period fluctuations. These limited data show a substantially different pattern of variation to that expected from the inferred light curve of Giles et al. (1980), casting doubt upon the validity of this light curve as a representation of infrared variations, at least over the above time period. Color-index changes appear to be related to J intensity, the source becoming redder as the intensity decreases. The spectrum when corrected for interstellar reddening fits reasonably well to a blackbody curve, with a significant excess at L (3.5 microns) possibly indicating the existence of thermal emission from circumstellar material at a temperature below 1000 K.