Wind from a Black Hole
Credit & Copyright: M. Weiss (CXC),
NASA
Explanation:
Binary star system
GRO J1655-40
consists of a relatively normal star about twice as massive as the Sun
co-orbiting with a black hole of about seven
solar masses.
This striking
artist's
vision of the exotic binary
system helps visualize matter drawn from the normal star by
gravity and
swirling toward the black hole.
But it also includes a wind of material escaping from the black hole's
accretion disk.
In fact, astronomers
now argue
that Chandra Observatory x-ray data
indicate a high-speed wind is being driven from this system's
disk by magnetic forces.
Internal magnetic fields also help drive material in the swirling
disk into the
black hole itself.
If you had
x-ray
eyes as good as Chandra's, you could find
GRO J1655-40 about 11,000 light-years away in the constellation
Scorpius.
Shuttle Launch:
News
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
