Alternate Names

Nova Persei 1992, XN Persei 92

Type

Stellar mass

Location

In the constellation Perseus

Finder Chart

Distance

8,100 light-years (2,500 parsecs)

Mass

3 to 11 times the mass of the Sun

Size

Diameter roughly 10-40 miles (20-65 km), equal to the size of a large city

Discovery Methods

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

GRO J0422+32

An artist's concept shows an X-ray nova like GRO J0422+32. The black hole, which is at the center of the disk at right, steals gas from its larger companion. The disk periodically erupts, producing outbursts of X-rays.

Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, which discovered GRO J0422+32, is released into orbit from space shuttle Atlantis in 1991.

This document was last modified: February 12, 2012.