GX-339-4

FAIL2 FAIL3 

Alternate Names

V821 Ara

Type

Stellar mass

Location

In the constellation Ara, the altar

Distance

27,000 light-years

Mass

5.8 to 10 times the mass of the Sun

Size

Diameter 20-35 miles (31-60 km), equal to the size of a large city

Discovery Methods

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

This artist's concept is looking face-on at the accretion disk that surrounds the black hole in GX 339-4. A streamer of gas from the companion star feeds the accretion disk, while jets of charged particles shoot into space from the poles of the black hole. [ESO/Poshak Gandhi]

This document was last modified: January 13, 2011.