![]() If the binary system is indeed a member, the estimated age of Cygnus X-1 and HDE 226868 would be around five million years, and the progenitor star that collapsed into a black hole would have been over 40 times more massive than the Sun as the largest member of the Cygnus OB3 association has 40 solar masses. The Cygnus X-1/HDE 226868 pair possibly belongs to the Cygnus OB3 stellar association, as it shares a common motion through space with stars belonging to the association. Image: NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory Credits: NASA/CXC. As a result, X-ray emissions are generated from the source and a pair of jets are taking some of the energy generated by the material away into space.Ĭhandra image of Cygnus X-1. The accretion disk around the X-ray source draws material from the supergiant star’s stellar wind and heats it to millions of degrees. The mass of the black hole is estimated to be around 14.8 solar masses, while the supergiant is believed to have 19.2 solar masses. Cygnus X-1 and the supergiant star do not eclipse Cygnus X-1 never goes behind the star. The X-ray binary system consists of the compact object Cygnus X-1 and a blue supergiant designated HDE 226868, which Cygnus X-1 orbits at about 0.2 astronomical units – about 20 percent of the distance from the Earth to the Sun – with an orbital period of 5.599829 days. Today, the theory is widely accepted even though without direct observation it can’t be confirmed. In 1990, he conceded the bet after additional observational data had strengthened the theory that there really was a black hole in the system. The physicists Stephen Hawking and Kip Thorne had a friendly wager about Cygnus X-1 in 1974, with Hawking betting that the object was not a black hole. Cygnus X-1 is spinning at a rate close to its maximum rate and the event horizon is spinning more than 800 times per second, which is almost half the speed of light. ![]() In effect, anything that passes the event horizon is unable to get away. The event horizon is the region of space around a black hole with a gravitational field strong enough to prevent the electromagnetic radiation from the interior from escaping. It is also one of the strongest persistent X-ray sources known.Ĭygnus X-1 has a mass 14.8 times that of the Sun and its compact size indicates that it can’t be a regular star or any object other than a black hole.Ĭygnus X-1 has an event horizon with a radius of around 44 kilometres. ![]() ![]() Discovered in 1964, it is one of the most studied objects in its class. It is one of the strongest sources of X-ray emissions discovered and was the first X-ray source that was widely accepted to be a black hole candidate.Ĭygnus X-1 is part of a massive X-ray binary system approximately 6,070 light years from Earth. The X-ray source is believed to be a stellar mass black hole, one created from the collapse of a massive star about 5 to 6 million years ago. Cygnus X-1 is a galactic X-ray source located in the northern constellation Cygnus. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |