QX Normae

QX Normae
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Norma
Right ascension 16h 12m 43.0s[1]
Declination −52° 25′ 23″
Characteristics
Spectral type /
Astrometry
Distance19,000 ly
(58,000[2] pc)
Details
Neutron star
Mass1.74 ± 0.14[2] M☉
Radius9.3 ± 1.0[2] km
Other designations
4U 1608-52[1]
Database references
SIMBADdata

QX Normae is an active low mass X ray binary in the constellation Norma. It is composed of a neutron star and a star smaller and cooler than the Sun. The X-ray component, known as 4U 1608–52, was discovered in the early 1970s, while the visual component, QX Normae, was discovered in 1977.[3] By analysing the interstellar extinction between Earth and the system, Güver and colleagues calculated the most likely distance to be 5.8 kpc (19,000 light-years), and the neutron star's mass to be 1.74 ± 0.14 times that of the Sun and radius to be a mere 9.3 ± 1.0 km.[2]

  1. ^ a b "QX Normae". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d Güver, Tolga; Özel, Feryal; Cabrera-Lavers, Antonio; Wroblewski, Patricia (2010). "The Distance, Mass, and Radius of the Neutron Star in 4U 1608-52". The Astrophysical Journal. 712 (2): 964–73. arXiv:0811.3979. Bibcode:2010ApJ...712..964G. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/712/2/964. S2CID 15659561.
  3. ^ Wachter, Stephanie; Hoard, D. W.; Bailyn, Charles D.; Corbel, Stephane; Kaaret, Philip E. (2002). "A Closer Look at the Soft X-ray Transient X1608-52 : Long-term Optical\/X-ray Observations". The Astrophysical Journal. 568 (2): 901–911. arXiv:astro-ph/0112465. Bibcode:2002ApJ...568..901W. doi:10.1086/339034. S2CID 13345357.