NEW PHOTOMETRIC AND POLARIMETRIC OBSERVATIONS OF THE MASSIVE INTERACTING BINARY KX AND

New UBVRI photometry and polarimetry of the interacting binary KX And are presented. The shape of its light curve in the 1992-1994 season pr ovides evidence for a shift of the time of minimum light from the phas e of main elongation, which can be determined from spectroscopic obser vations. This previously unobserved effect suggests that the orbital p osition of the cloud of gas that obscures the hot component can change in longitude. The binary exhibits a variable (with orbital phase) lin ear polarization. The variable polarization is dominated by the first harmonic of the orbital period. This polarization is shown to arise fr om the scattering of light in the upper layers of the optically thick shell around the hot component with a thickening at its front edge. An analysis of the polarimetric data has yielded estimates of the orbita l inclination, i = 50 degrees, and the spatial orientation of the orbi t, Ohm = 100 degrees +/- 30 degrees.