Cygnus X-3

Cygnus X-3
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0      Equinox J2000.0 (ICRS)
Constellation Cygnus
Right ascension 20h 32m 25.78s[1]
Declination +40° 57′ 27.9″[1]
Characteristics
Spectral type WN 4–6[2]
Apparent magnitude (H) 13.192[3]
Apparent magnitude (J) 15.309[3]
Apparent magnitude (K) 11.921[3]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)208+113
−127[2] km/s
Distance7,400±1,100[4] pc
Absolute magnitude (MV)−4.5[2]
Orbit[2]
Period (P)4.8 hours
Semi-amplitude (K1)
(primary)		379+124
−149 km/s
Details
WR
Mass8–14[2] M☉
Radius<2[2] R☉
Luminosity209,000+93,000
−64,000[2] L☉
Temperaturemore than 80,000[2] K
compact object
Mass2.4+2.1
−1.1[5] M☉
Other designations
V1521 Cyg, 18P 57, WR 145a, X Cyg X-3, RX J2032.3+4057, INTEGRAL1 118, 2U 2030+40, 3U 2030+40, 4U 2030+40.[3]
Database references
SIMBADdata

Cygnus X-3 is a high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB), one of the stronger binary X-ray sources in the sky. It is often considered to be a microquasar, and it is believed to be a compact object in a binary system which is pulling in a stream of gas from an ordinary star companion. It is one of only two known HMXBs containing a Wolf–Rayet star. It is invisible visually, but can be observed at radio, infrared, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference 2mass was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Cite error: The named reference koljonen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference sbxy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference mccollough was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference zdziarski was invoked but never defined (see the help page).