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M.M. Hanson (U.Cincinnati), R.P. Fender (U.Amsterdam), M.D. Still (USRA/GSFC/NASA)
The first ever fully sampled, uninterrupted 13-day near-infrared spectroscopic study of the unusual binary system SS~433 are presented. Data were obtained using moderate resolution, R \approx 3000, H- and K-band spectroscopy with the Steward Observatory 2.3-m telescope + FSpec spectrograph. The goal was to trace the variations of any spectral components seen in the NIR over the binary orbital period of 13 days. Previous red-optical work suggests a signature from the optical mass donor might be difficult to find at NIR wavelengths, though we may detect the disk's orbital motion. Indeed, we do identify possible sinusoidal motions, which we are currently analyzing and will present in this poster paper. MMH is supported by NSF grants AST-9973922 and AST-0094050 to the University of Cincinnati.