Cygnus X-3
High mass X-ray binary in the constellation of Cygnus / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Cygnus X-3 is a high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB), one of the stronger binary X-ray sources in the sky. It is often considered to be a microquasar, and it is believed to be a compact object in a binary system which is pulling in a stream of gas from an ordinary star companion. It is one of only two known HMXBs containing a Wolf–Rayet star. It is invisible visually, but can be observed at radio, infrared, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths.
Quick Facts Constellation, Right ascension ...
Observation data Epoch J2000.0 Equinox J2000.0 (ICRS) | |
---|---|
Constellation | Cygnus |
Right ascension | 20h 32m 25.78s[1] |
Declination | +40° 57′ 27.9″[1] |
Characteristics | |
Spectral type | WN 4–6[2] |
Apparent magnitude (H) | 13.192[3] |
Apparent magnitude (J) | 15.309[3] |
Apparent magnitude (K) | 11.921[3] |
Astrometry | |
Radial velocity (Rv) | 208+113 −127[2] km/s |
Distance | 7,400±1,100[4] pc |
Absolute magnitude (MV) | −4.5[2] |
Orbit[2] | |
Period (P) | 4.8 hours |
Semi-amplitude (K1) (primary) | 379+124 −149 km/s |
Details | |
WR | |
Mass | 8–14[2] M☉ |
Radius | <2[2] R☉ |
Luminosity | 209,000+93,000 −64,000[2] L☉ |
Temperature | more than 80,000[2] K |
compact object | |
Mass | 2.4+2.1 −1.1[5] M☉ |
Other designations | |
Database references | |
SIMBAD | data |
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