Spectroscopic Monitoring of SS 433. Stability of Parameters of the Kinematic Model over 40 Years

Abstract

Spectroscopic monitoring of SS 433 was performed during the 11 years between 2007 and 2017. Shifts of the moving Hα emission lines are analyzed and corresponding radial velocity curves plotted. All published spectroscopic data on SS 433 are used to search for secular variations of the parameters of the kinematic model. Deviations of the model parameters from their mean values are observed during relatively short time intervals (several years), but no secular changes have been detected. The presence of a component varying periodically with the orbital period is confirmed for the velocity variations for the matter in the relativistic jets, possibly indicating that the orbit of SS 433 is slightly elliptical. The stability of the parameters of the kinematic model testifies that a model with a slaved accretion disk that follows the precession of the optical star’s rotation axis is very suitable for the supercritical accretion disk in the SS 433 system.