What's Up - Featured Deep Sky Objects

Featured Deep Sky Objects
Cygnus X-1

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Cygnus X-1 is not much of a telescopic object - all you can see is a faint naked eye star. It's what you CAN'T see that makes this star famous: a black hole, Cygnus X-1, a powerful source of X rays located maybe 16,000 light-years away, far beyond the stars of Cygnus. The visible star, a bright blue giant sun, is being sucked up by the unseen companion, and the gases headed "down the hole" scream their protest by emitting the radiation. Scientists guess that if you were close enough, you might see a scene like the one you see here in an artist's rendition.

Home Deep Sky Chart M29

Cygnus X-1 is not much of a telescopic object - all you can see is a faint naked eye star. It's what you CAN'T see that makes this star famous: a black hole, Cygnus X-1, a powerful source of X rays located maybe 16,000 light-years away, far beyond the stars of Cygnus. The visible star, a bright blue giant sun, is being sucked up by the unseen companion, and the gases headed "down the hole" scream their protest by emitting the radiation. Scientists guess that if you were close enough, you might see a scene like the one you see here in an artist's rendition.

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