Infrared spectroscopy of V 616 Monocerotis ( = A 0620 – 00 ) : the accretion disc contamination

We have obtained for the first time K-band infrared spectra of the soft X-ray transient V616 Mon (=A0620–00). We determine the 2-σ upper limit to the fraction of light arising from the accretion disc to be 27 percent. The effect this has on the binary inclination, determined from modelling the infrared ellipsoidal variations is to increase it by less than 7 degrees and decrease the mass of the black hole by less than 3.6 M .