Alternate Names

K16

Type

Stellar mass

Location

in the constellation Aquarius

Distance

16,000 light-years

Mass

16 times the mass of the Sun

Size

Diameter roughly 60 miles (96 km)

Discovery Methods

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

An X-ray image from the space-based Chandra X-Ray Observatory shows the glow of SS433’s jets. The glow comes from gas that is heated to millions of degrees. The image spans half a light-year. [NASA/CXC/U.Amsterdam/S.Migliari et al.]

This document was last modified: June 5, 2007.