Millimeter observations of the galactic source of relativistic ejections \mbox { GRS } 1915 + 105 ( Mirabel & Rodríguez 1994 ) are consistent with this source being at a kinematic distance D = 12.5 \pm 1.5 \mbox { kpc } from the Sun , behind the core of a molecular cloud at 9.4 \pm 0.2 \mbox { kpc } .
At this distance , \mbox { GRS } 1915 + 105 , frequently radiating \sim 3 \times 10 ^ { 38 } \mbox { erg s } ^ { -1 } in the X-rays , becomes the most luminous X-ray source in the Galaxy .
The total hydrogen column density N \mbox { ( H ) } = 4.7 \pm 0.2 \times 10 ^ { 22 } \mbox { cm } ^ { -2 } along the line of sight corresponds to a visual absorption A _ { v } = 26.5 \pm 1 \mbox { magnitudes } .

The infrared counterpart of \mbox { GRS } 1915 + 105 exhibits in the 1.2 \mbox { } \mu \mbox { m } – 2.2 \mbox { } \mu \mbox { m } band variations of \sim 1 \mbox { magnitude } in a few hours and of \sim 2 \mbox { magnitudes } over longer intervals of time .
In the infrared , \mbox { GRS } 1915 + 105 is strikingly similar to \mbox { SS } 433 , and unlike any other known stellar source in the Galaxy .
The infrared resemblance in absolute magnitude , color , and time variability , between these two sources of relativistic ejections suggests that \mbox { GRS } 1915 + 105 , as \mbox { SS } 433 , consists of a collapsed object ( neutron star or black hole ) with a thick accretion disk in a high-mass-luminous binary system .