A Study of Visual and Infrared Observations of SCO XR-1

Abstract

Photoelectric spectrum scans from 3300 to 10830 A and infrared photometric observations at 1.65 and 2.2 μ of Sco XR-1 have been obtained on many nights. The observed spectral energy distribution ƒ_v, is nearly flat from 0.33 to 1.0 μ and then approaches a v^2 law farther in the infrared. Synchrotron and free-free radiation can be ruled out unless a self-absorption mechanism operates in the visible spectral region. It is shown that the same mass of gas with T = 5 X 10^7 ° K, which has been postulated to account for the X-ray data by free-free radiation can also account for the observed flux in the visible and infrared since it is shown that the optical depth in the visual and infrared is quite large. Very stringent conditions are imposed on such a model by the observations presented here, and the parameters characterizing the hot plasma are listed in Table 2.

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