Alternate Names

Cygnus XR-1

Type

Stellar mass

Location

In the constellation Cygnus

Finder Chart

Distance

6,000 to 10,000 light-years

Mass

5 to 10 times the mass of the Sun

Size

Diameter 20-40 miles (30-60 km), equal to the size of a large American city

Discovery Methods

• Measuring the motions of gas

This gamma-ray image from the Integral satellite shows Cygnus X-1 (the large white blob at center) and Cygnus X-3, which is an accretion disk encircling a neutron star. [ESA]

This document was last modified: November 7, 2005.