Apep (star system)
Apep is a triple star system containing a Wolf–Rayet binary and a hot supergiant, located in the constellation of Norma. Named after the serpent deity from Egyptian mythology, the star system is surrounded by a vast complex of stellar wind and cosmic dust thrown into space by the high rotation speed of the binary's primary star and formed into a "pinwheel" shape by the secondary star's influence. Ground-based studies of the system in the 2010s concluded that the system was the best-known gamma-ray burst progenitor candidate in the Milky Way galaxy.
Infrared image by the Very Large Telescope (ESO/Callingham et al.) | |
| Observation data Epoch J2000.0 Equinox J2000.0 | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Norma |
| Right ascension | 16h 00m 50.5s |
| Declination | −51° 42′ 45″ |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 17.5 |
| Characteristics | |
| Evolutionary stage | WR binary |
| Apparent magnitude (J) | 10.2 |
| Apparent magnitude (K) | 6.9 |
| Astrometry | |
| Distance | 2,000+400 −300 pc |
| Absolute magnitude (MV) | -5.15 / -5.15 / -7.4 |
| Other designations | |
WR 70-16, 2MASS J16005047-5142449 | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
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