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Binary Systems

Accretion in a binary system is a very efficient way to make X-rays. It's even more efficient than fusion! The first X-ray sources discovered were accretion-powered binaries because they were the brightest. Some of the accretion-powered sources have X-ray luminosities of 1038 erg/s. In comparison, the Sun's X-ray luminosity is only about 1027 erg/s.

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