K-band spectroscopy of the intermediate polar XY Ari

We present the K-band infrared spectrum of the intermediate polar XY Ari. The spectrum confirms the cataclysmic binary nature of XY Ari, showing emission lines of HeI (2.0587 microns) and the Brackett and Paschen series of HI. The broad nature of these lines suggest an origin in an accretion disc. The spectrum is strongly reddened by absorption within the molecular cloud Lynds 1457 and shows prominent absorption features from the secondary star, from which we determine a spectral type for the secondary of M0V. The secondary contributes 80 +/- 6% of the K-band light. We derive a visual extinction to XY Ari of Av = 11.5 +/- 0.3 and a distance of d=270 +/- 100 pc, placing XY Ari behind the molecular cloud.