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VIDEO: An animation showing the Cygnus X-1 system, consisting of a black hole in orbit with a giant star. Recent observations by radio telescopes have found the system is 20 per. view more
Credit: Credit: International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research.
New observations of the first black hole ever detected have led astronomers to question what they know about the Universe s most mysterious objects.
Published today in the journal
Science, the research shows the system known as Cygnus X-1 contains the most massive stellar-mass black hole ever detected without the use of gravitational waves.
Cygnus X-1 is one of the closest black holes to Earth. It was discovered in 1964 when a pair of Geiger counters were carried on board a sub-orbital rocket launched from New Mexico.
A Famous Black Hole Gets a Massive Update
Cygnus X-1, one of the first identified black holes, is much weightier than expected, raising new questions about how such objects form.
An artist’s impression of the Cygnus X-1 system, a black hole with its orbiting companion star, HDE 226868, 7,200 light-years from Earth. Credit.International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research
Feb. 18, 2021
One of the biggest and first known black holes in the Milky Way galaxy is more massive than astronomers thought, a team of scientists announced on Thursday. The finding throws a wrench into long-held models of how massive stars evolve on the way to the ultimate doom.
Astronomers used the Very Long Baseline Array to observe the large black hole
Named CygnusX-1, it was discovered in 1964 following a sub-orbital rocket flight
New measurements reveal it is 50% larger and 20% further away than suspected
Professor Stephen Hawking bet Kip Thorne a years subscription to Penthouse that the object was not a black hole
The late professor eventually conceded he lost the bet 26 years later in 1990
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