Scorpius X-1

E472725

Scorpius X-1 is a bright low-mass X-ray binary system and one of the strongest persistent X-ray sources in the sky, located in the constellation Scorpius.

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Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf X-ray source
astronomical object
low-mass X-ray binary
accretionDisk present
apparentMagnitudeV about 12.3
belongsToClass Z-source LMXB
catalogDesignation 4U 1617−15 NERFINISHED
GX 348+16 NERFINISHED
Sco X-1 NERFINISHED
compactObject neutron star
compactObjectMass about 1.4 solar masses
constellation Scorpius NERFINISHED
declination −15° 38′ 25″
discoveredBy Bruno Rossi NERFINISHED
Frank R. Paolini NERFINISHED
Herbert Gursky NERFINISHED
Riccardo Giacconi NERFINISHED
discoveryMethod sounding rocket X-ray experiment
discoveryYear 1962
distanceFromEarth about 2.8 kiloparsecs
about 9,000 light-years
emissionMechanism accretion onto neutron star
GalacticLatitude +23.18°
GalacticLongitude 359.09°
GalacticPopulation Galactic halo object
hostGalaxy Milky Way NERFINISHED
locatedInConstellation Scorpius NERFINISHED
massTransferMechanism Roche lobe overflow
notableAs brightest persistent extrasolar X-ray source in the sky
first extrasolar X-ray source discovered
opticalCompanionMass about 0.4 solar masses
opticalCounterpartDesignation V818 Scorpii NERFINISHED
opticalVariability present
orbitalPeriod 0.787 days
about 18.9 hours
properMotion high
radialVelocity large
radioEmission detected
radioJets present
rightAscension 16h 19m 55.1s
spectralTypeOpticalCompanion K-type subgiant
systemType low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB)
usedFor studies of accretion physics
tests of general relativity in strong gravity regime
variabilityType X-ray variable source
XrayBand hard X-rays
soft X-rays
XrayLuminosity about 2×10^38 erg/s
of order Eddington luminosity for a neutron star

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Scorpius containsXRaySource Scorpius X-1