2002A&A...383..905P

The interacting binary system AX Mon (K-giant + B(e) star) has been observed at the Tartu Observatory, Estonia, from 1985 to 2000. In the present paper, mostly the behaviour of the hydrogen Hα line from 1996 to 2000 is investigated. We have found that the Hα profiles are variable on time scales from hours to years, with main features appearing around the conjunctions of the stars (K-star in front). Those features include weakening of the main absorption component of the P Cygni like profile and appearance of additional absorption and/or emission components. Occasionally, the Hα line as a whole shifts on the wavelength scale. All those effects seem to occur much stronger at every second conjunction, which we propose to call ``strong'' conjunctions. We propose that this variability is due to a gas cloud close to the Be star. This cloud is a region, where a stream of matter from the K-giant collides with the circumstellar gas from the Be-star. The mass transfer process seems to have become more unstable than in 1960s. It is possible that a cyclic behaviour of the Hα line with a periodicity of about two orbital periods is present.