SS 433 as an eclipsing binary

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Abstract
New photoelectric B, V observations carried out in 1980 February–June have shown that SS 433 appears to be an eclipsing binary system with orbital period 13.09±0.04 day, which agrees well with the spectroscopic period 13.08±0.07 day reported by Crampton, Cowley & Hutchings. The maximum of positive low-amplitude radial velocity corresponds to the primary minimum which is presumably connected with the eclipse by the normal star of the accretion disc surrounding a collapsed object. Strong variability from period to period is observed. The average brightness of SS 433 both in 1979 and 1980 correlates with the phase of the precession period of the moving emission features, and the maximum of the average brightness occurs at the time of largest separation of these features. This correlation may be explained by the variable contribution of the accretion disc to the total optical luminosity of the system, due to its precession. At the maximum of the average brightness, the accretion disc contributes at least 60 per cent of the total optical luminosity of the system. The average brightness-temperature of the disc is about twice that of the normal star which is presumably a later O or early B star filling its Roche lobe. The bolometric luminosity of the disc is ∼ 1039 erg s−1.

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