SS 433
Reference data for SS 433: 0.26c relativistic precessing jets, 13.08-day eclipsing binary orbit in Aquila, and the W50 Manatee Nebula.
Provenance-Backed Scientific Measurements
Every measurement below preserves its unit, uncertainty interval, observational method, reference epoch, quality status, and primary catalog source. See Uncertainty & Provenance for how competing measurements are handled.
| Parameter | Value | Uncertainty | Method & Epoch | Quality Status | Source Archive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distance | 17900 ly | ± 1000 ly | Kinematic distance of 5.5 ± 0.2 kpc from VLBI proper motion of corkscrew radio knots (Blundell & Bowler 2004). | definitive | SIMBAD Astronomical Database (CDS) |
| Apparent Magnitude (V) | 14.2 mag | ± 0.4 mag | Varies between V ~ 13.8 and 14.8 across orbital eclipses and precession phases. | definitive | SIMBAD Astronomical Database (CDS) |
| Binary Orbital Period | 13.0822 d | ± 0.0004 d | Coherent X-ray/radio timing or binary radial-velocity solution | definitive | SIMBAD Astronomical Database (CDS) |
| Compact Object Mass | 12 M☉ | ± 3.5 M☉ | Favored to be a ~8–15 M☉ stellar-mass black hole accreting from an ~25–30 M☉ A-type supergiant donor. | model-dependent | SIMBAD Astronomical Database (CDS) |
| Relativistic Jet Speed | 78000 km/s | ± 1500 km/s | Intrinsic jet ejection velocity v = 0.2602c measured via shifting H-alpha Doppler lines. | definitive | SIMBAD Astronomical Database (CDS) |
| Kinetic & Bolometric Output | 250000 L☉ | ± 80000 L☉ | Super-Eddington accretion disk wind and jet kinetic power (~10³⁹–10⁴⁰ erg/s). | high-confidence | SIMBAD Astronomical Database (CDS) |
J2000 Equatorial Sky Chart & Culmination Altitude
The chart below plots SS 433 (V1343 Aquilae) — Galactic Microquasar at RA 19h 11m 49.56s, Dec +04° 58′ 57.8″ within Aquila, alongside peak meridian transit altitudes for 40°N and 30°S observers. Use the RA/Dec Coordinate Converter to compute exact culmination altitude for your latitude.
Astrophysical Context & Structure
Entered as #433 in Bruce Stephenson and Nicholas Sanduleak's 1977 catalog of strong H-alpha emission stars, SS 433 stunned the astronomical community in 1978 when Bruce Margon and colleagues discovered two sets of hydrogen and helium emission lines sliding back and forth across its optical spectrum by tens of thousands of kilometers per second. Rather than arising from binary orbital motion alone, these redshifted and blueshifted lines originate in twin opposing jets of ionized gas shot out at 26.02 percent of the speed of light (78,000 kilometers per second) along an axis that precesses like a spinning top around a 20-degree cone every 162.4 days.
At the core of SS 433, an A-type supergiant donor star dumps roughly 10⁻⁴ solar masses per year onto a stellar-mass black hole across a 13.08-day eclipsing orbit—thousands of times above the Eddington accretion limit. Even when the precessing jets cross perpendicular to our line of sight, their emission lines remain shifted toward the red by a redshift of z = 0.035 due to special-relativistic time dilation (the transverse Doppler effect), making SS 433 a textbook astrophysical laboratory for special relativity.
Surrounding SS 433 is the 2-degree-wide supernova remnant W50, nicknamed the 'Manatee Nebula' because the precessing relativistic jets have punched two elongated east-west 'ears' hundreds of light-years into the interstellar medium. High-energy gamma-ray observatories including HAWC, H.E.S.S., and LHAASO have detected photons exceeding 25 to 100 TeV along these jet termination lobes, proving that Galactic microquasars accelerate cosmic-ray particles to PeV energies.
Practical Visual Observing Guide
- Shines at V ~ 14.2 in western Aquila, within reach of 10-inch+ visual telescopes and small amateur astrographs.
- Amateur spectroscopists using low-resolution grating spectrographs on 8-inch to 14-inch telescopes can directly measure the shifting H-alpha jet lines over a few weeks!
- Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio images resolve the expanding corkscrew pattern of plasma knots on milliarcsecond scales.
Catalog Cross-Identifications & Aliases
Common Aliases: V1343 Aquilae · 4U 1908+05 · W50 Central Source
| Catalog Authority | Identifier |
|---|---|
| SIMBAD | V1343 Aquilae |
Related Objects, Comparisons & Guides
Cygnus X-1 (HDE 226868 X-Ray Black Hole)
Coordinates, VLBA/Gaia distance (2.22 kpc), 21.2-M☉ stellar black hole mass, 5.60-day O-supergiant binary, and observing guide for Cygnus X-1.
V404 Cygni (GS 2023+338) — Black Hole Binary
Reference data for V404 Cygni: 9.0 solar mass black hole, VLBI parallax distance of 7,800 ly, 6.47-day orbit, and 2015 X-ray dust-ring outburst.
Hercules X-1 (HZ Herculis) — X-Ray Pulsar
Reference data for Hercules X-1: 1.24-second X-ray pulsar spin, 1.70-day binary orbit, 35-day warped disk cycle, and cyclotron magnetic field.
Proper Motion, Radial Velocity & Redshift
How astronomers combine tangential proper motion (mas/yr), Doppler radial velocity (km/s), and cosmological redshift (z) to reconstruct 3D space motion.
Exoplanet Transit & Radial Velocity Methods
How astronomers detect and characterize exoplanets using photometric transit depth ((Rp/R*)²), Doppler radial velocity (M sin i), and JWST transmission spectra.
Scientific Sources & Dataset Provenance
- SIMBAD Astronomical Database (CDS) (2026-10 release): Wenger, M., et al. 2000, A&AS, 143, 9 (The SIMBAD astronomical database) — Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg