Black Hole Candidate Cygnus X-1
Credit: ESA, Hubble
Posted on 08/11/2008 3:45:06 AM PDT by sig226
Explanation: Is that a black hole? Quite possibly. The Cygnus X-1 binary star system contains one of the best candidates for a black hole. The system was discovered because it is one of the brightest X-ray sources on the sky, shining so bright it was detected by the earliest rockets carrying cameras capable of seeing the previously unknown X-ray sky. The star's very name indicates that it is the single brightest X-ray source in the constellation of the Swan Cygnus. Data indicate that a compact object there contains about nine times the mass of the Sun and changes its brightness continually on several time scales, at least down to milliseconds. Such behavior is expected for a black hole, and difficult to explain with other models. Pictured above is an artistic impression of the Cygnus X-1 system. On the left is the bright blue supergiant star designated HDE 226868, which is estimated as having about 30 times the mass of our Sun. Cygnus X-1 is depicted on the right, connected to its supergiant companion by a stream of gas, and surrounded by an impressive accretion disk. The bright star in the Cygnus X-1 system is visible with a small telescope. Strangely, the Cygnus X-1 black hole candidate appears to have formed without a bright supernova explosion.
A Farewell to Kings
Not strange at all...it's due to universal warming...
I watched a documentary on Hubble a couple days ago. They said that you can't see a black hole, just the circumstances surrounding them. They also mentioned that you can tell what sort of minerals (and gases?) they're looking at by the color.
Are all of these images artistic renditions of what the scientific data offer?
I remember seeing fascinating images like this at the Griffith observatory dozens of years ago. I always thought they were actual photos.
I'm still fascinated, just wonder how much is actual photos and how much is interpretation? (wide open question, I know)
The (decent) theme to the (HORRIBLE) movie THE BLACK HOLE just started playing in my head...
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