The compact central object is consuming the companion star which rapidly loses mass into an accretion disc formed around the central object. The accretion disc is subject to extreme heating as it spirals into the primary and this heating causes the accretion disc to give off intense X-rays and opposing jets of hot hydrogen along the axis of rotation, above and below the plane of the accretion disc. The material in the jets travels at 26% of the speed of light.[9] The companion star presumably had lower mass than the original primary object and was therefore longer lived. Estimates for its mass range from 3 to 30[10]solar masses. The primary and secondary orbit each other at a very close distance in stellar terms, with an orbital period of 13.082 days. Their orbit is very slightly eccentric, and its period is slowly increasing at a rate of about 1.0×10−7 seconds per second, or about 3 seconds per year.[5]
The jets from the primary are emitted perpendicular to its accretion disk. The jets and disk precess around an axis inclined about 79° to a line between Earth and SS 433. The angle between the jets and the axis is around 20°, and the precessional period is around 162.5 days.[12] Precession means that the jets sometimes point more towards the Earth, and sometimes more away, producing both blue and red Doppler shifts in the observed visible spectrum.[9] Also, the precession means that the jets corkscrew through space in an expanding helical spray.[13] As they impact the surrounding W50 supernova remnant clouds, they distort it into an elongated shape.[14]
Observations in 2004 by the Very Long Baseline Array for 42 consecutive days gave new data and understanding of the action of the jets. It appears that the jets are sometimes impacting material shortly after being created and thus brightening. The material the jets are impacting appears to be replaced some of the time, but not always, leading to variations in the brightening of the jets.[15][16]
The spectrum of SS 433 is affected not just by Doppler shifts but also by relativity: when the effects of the Doppler shift are subtracted, there is a residual redshift which corresponds to a velocity of about 12,000 kilometers per second. This does not represent an actual velocity of the system away from the Earth; rather, it is due to time dilation, which makes moving clocks appear to stationary observers to be ticking more slowly. In this case, the relativistically moving excited atoms in the jets appear to vibrate more slowly and their radiation thus appears red-shifted.[9]
In September 2018, A. U. Abeysekara et al. published in Nature details of investigations using the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Gamma-Ray (HAWC) ObservatoryinMexico. They reported teraelectronvolt γ-ray observations exceeding 25TeV of the SS 433/W50 system that spatially resolve the lobes, and consistent with a single population of electrons with energies extending to at least hundreds of teraelectronvolts in a magnetic field of about 16 microgauss.[17][18]
^ abSamus, N. N.; Durlevich, O. V.; et al. (2009). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: General Catalogue of Variable Stars (Samus+ 2007-2013)". VizieR On-line Data Catalog: B/GCVS. Originally Published in: 2009yCat....102025S. 1: B/gcvs. Bibcode:2009yCat....102025S.
^ abcCherepashchuk, A. M.; Belinski, A. A.; Dodin, A. V.; Postnov, K. A. (2021). "Discovery of orbital eccentricity and evidence for orbital period increase of SS433". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. 507 (1): L19–L23. arXiv:2107.09005. Bibcode:2021MNRAS.507L..19C. doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slab083.
^ abSS 433, David Darling, entry in The Internet Encyclopedia of Science, accessed on line September 14, 2007.
^Milgrom, Mordehai (October 1979). "Thomson scattered lines in the spectrum of SS 433 - A powerful tool for studying the system". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 78 (3): L17–L20. Bibcode:1979A&A....78L..17M.
^Cherepashchuk, A. M.; Sunyaev, R. A.; Fabrika, S. N.; Postnov, K. A.; Molkov, S. V.; Barsukova, E. A.; Antokhina, E. A.; Irsmambetova, T. R.; Panchenko, I. E.; Seifina, E. V.; Shakura, N. I.; Timokhin, A. N.; Bikmaev, I. F.; Sakhibullin, N. A.; Aslan, Z.; Khamitov, I.; Pramsky, A. G.; Sholukhova, O.; Gnedin, Yu. N.; Arkharov, A. A.; Larionov, V. M. (2005). "INTEGRAL observations of SS433: Results of a coordinated campaign". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 437 (2): 561–573. arXiv:astro-ph/0503352. Bibcode:2005A&A...437..561C. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20041563. S2CID119395465.
^Schillemat, K.; Mioduszewski, A.; Dhawan, V.; Rupen, M. (2004). "Exploring the Jet Proper Motions of SS433". American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts. 205: 104.01. Bibcode:2004AAS...20510401S.
^Abeysekara, A. U.; Albert, A.; Alfaro, R.; Alvarez, C.; Álvarez, J. D.; Arceo, R.; Arteaga-Velázquez, J. C.; Avila Rojas, D.; Ayala Solares, H. A.; Belmont-Moreno, E.; Benzvi, S. Y.; Brisbois, C.; Caballero-Mora, K. S.; Capistrán, T.; Carramiñana, A.; Casanova, S.; Castillo, M.; Cotti, U.; Cotzomi, J.; Coutiño De León, S.; De León, C.; de la Fuente, E.; Díaz-Vélez, J. C.; Dichiara, S.; Dingus, B. L.; Duvernois, M. A.; Ellsworth, R. W.; Engel, K.; Espinoza, C.; et al. (2018). "Very-high-energy particle acceleration powered by the jets of the microquasar SS 433". Nature. 562 (7725): 82–85. arXiv:1810.01892. Bibcode:2018Natur.562...82A. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0565-5. PMID30283106. S2CID52918329.
19h11m49.56s, +04° 58′ 57.6″
Stars
Spaceflight
Outer space
Solar System
