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The Question
(Submitted October 02, 1996)
I'm wondering what information you have on the X-ray source Cygnus X-1
and on it's nearby star (a blue giant).
The Answer
Cyg X-1 is believed to be a black hole binary, with a 20-35 solar mass
black hole and a O9.7Iab companion. The orbital period is 5.6 days. You
can learn more about black holes and X-ray binaries in Imagine the
Universe! in both the Basic Level and the Advanced Level. In particular,
the level 2
"Black
Holes" section
discusses the Cygnus X-1 binary starry system. It includes
some information on the blue giant companion to the unseen compact
object. The reading list at the end of the page also gives a number
of good books with a great deal of information about black holes:
since Cygnus X-1 is still considered to be one of the better black
hole candidates, all of these books discuss the binary system in some
detail.
You can also find specific Cygnus X-1 information at
http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~spac250/steve/ident.html (http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/%7Espac250/steve/ident.html)
We hope you'll take the time to browse through the sites and
"read more about it".
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