Infrared photometry of the X-ray binary XTE J1118+480 in April 2000

We present the IR photometry of the X-ray binary XTE J1118+480 performed du ring seven nights in April and two nights in May-June 2000. A significant I R excess has been detected in the object, which may be due to the thermal r adiation from a dust envelope/cloud. The observed energy distribution in th e range 1.25-3.5 mum can be interpreted in terms of the sum of the fluxes f rom an accretion disk with a temperature of similar to 20 000 K and a dust envelope with grains heated to similar to 900 K. The distance to the X-ray binary estimated from the total flux from the dust envelope is no less than 0.6-3 kpc. The mean optical depth of the dust envelope for the accretion-d isk radiation is about 0.06. (C) 2001 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".