Simultaneous observations of the X-ray and optical eclipse of SS433 and their implications
Open Access
- 1 September 1987
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Vol. 228 (2) , 293-303
- https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/228.2.293
Abstract
We report on the results of coordinated X-ray and optical observations of SS433 made over one binary cycle. The optical light curve shows SS433 to be in a typical state, with two unequal minima separated by 0.5 in phase. The X-ray observations show reduced intensity coincident with the deeper, primary optical minimum. We interpret this result, which was suggested in the earlier observations of Grindlay et al. as the eclipse of the X-ray emitting region by the optical star, thus confirming the optical minimum as the occultation of an accretion disc by the mass-losing star. The characteristics of the X-ray eclipse, when coupled with optical data and the discovery of Watson et al., that the X-ray emission is from the jets, then constrain the dimensions of all components of the system. We find a stellar radius of ∼3×1012 cm, jet length of ∼1012 cm and a ratio of disc thickness to radius of ∼0.4. We also derive a value of ∼1 for the ratio of the mass of the compact object to that of the normal star.Keywords
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