Type

Stellar mass

Location

in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a companion galaxy to the Milky Way; in the constellation Dorado

Distance

165,000 light-years

Mass

5 to 13 times the mass of the Sun

Size

Diameter roughly equal to the size of a city

Discovery Methods

• Detection of an accretion disk

LMC X-3 is a dark companion to the bright star at the center of this image. [Las Campanas Observatory]

This document was last modified: September 17, 2010.