Alternate Names

Nova Ophiuchi 1977, V2107 Ophiuchi, XN Oph77

Type

Stellar mass

Location

In the constellation Ophiuchus

Distance

27,000 light-years

Mass

5 to 7 times the mass of the Sun

Size

Diameter roughly 20 miles (35 km), equal to the size of a large city

Discovery Methods

• Detection of an accretion disk
• Measuring the motions of a companion star

1

Artist’s concept of an X-ray binary consisting of a fairly small, low-mass star and a black hole. The black hole is encircled by a disk of hot gas, while jets of charged particles shoot into space from the black hole’s poles. [NASA/Dana Berry]

This document was last modified: January 13, 2011.