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 artist’s concept shows the SS433 system. The black hole is at left, surrounded by an accretion disk. Gas in the disk gets hotter as it spirals closer to the black hole. New gas flows into the disk from the supergiant companion star at right. Some of the gas in the disk is shot back into space at about one-quarter of the speed of light, forming two long jets that extend above and below the black hole. [Kimberly Kowal]

This document was last modified: June 5, 2007.