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Description

A large disk of gas around a black hole.
Movie (11.4 MB)

AUDIO:
Here's a story of a pair of stars called Cygnus X-1
One's a black hole many times the mass of the Sun
With a disk of gas surrounding it, spiralling in
Sucked from the companion star's outermost skin
We see the high-speed flickering as star stuff flies in
A one way trip beyond the event horizon

VIDEO:
This video shows the pair of stars Cygnus X-1. One is a black hole with an accretion disk gathering material from the companion star.

 

A service of the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), Dr. Andy Ptak (Director), within the Astrophysics Science Division (ASD) at NASA/GSFC

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