Modeling the SS 433 Jet Bends

Abstract

We fit Chandra HETGS data obtained for the unusual X-ray binary SS 433. While line strengths and continuum levels hardly change, the jet Doppler shifts show aperiodic variations that probably result from shocks in interactions with the local environment. The X-ray and optical emission line regions are found to be related but not coincident as the optical line emission persists for days while the X-ray emission lines fade in less than 5000 s. The X-ray spectrum of the blueshifted jet shows over two dozen emission lines from plasma at a variety of temperatures. The emission measure distribution derived from the spectrum can be used to test jet cooling models.