W50 (SS 433) is a vast supernova remnant in Aquila, stretched into a lopsided shape by the binary star at its centre, which fires two precessing jets.
At a glance
| type | supernova remnant |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 17,900 light-years (5.5 kpc) |
| its light left it | 17,900 years ago |
| size in the piece | about 330 light-years acrossmodel |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with. Model marks a property of the piece’s galaxy model rather than a measurement.
About W50 (SS 433)
The central star, SS 433, is a binary in which a compact object, a black hole or a neutron star, pulls gas off a companion star. Part of that gas is flung out as two narrow jets travelling at a large fraction of the speed of light, and the jets wobble around like a spinning top, tracing cones on the sky. It was singled out as an odd emission-line star whose spectral lines shift back and forth, the first such jets to be found in our Galaxy.
W50 is the nebula around it, the remains of the explosion that most likely created the compact object. Seen in radio it is a round shell with two long lobes, often called the Manatee Nebula, because the jets have pushed out through the shell on either side. Where the jets end, the lobes also glow in X-rays and in very high energy gamma rays.
What you see in the piece
Switch to radio to see the full elongated outline; the remnant lies deep in the disc, where dust hides it in visible light.
Measured or modelled
Whether the compact object at the heart of W50 is a black hole or a neutron star is not settled. The extent shown in the piece is modelled.
Questions
What is SS 433?
SS 433 is a binary star system in which a compact object feeds on a companion and launches two fast, precessing jets that shape the W50 nebula around it.
How far away is W50?
W50 and SS 433 lie about 17,900 light-years (5.5 kpc) from the Sun.