A Tour of Cygnus X-1 | NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory

A Tour of Cygnus X-1 | NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory

Over three decades ago, Stephen Hawking placed, and eventually lost, a bet against the existence of a black hole in Cygnus X-1. Cygnus X-1 is a black hole about 15 times the mass of the Sun in orbit with a massive blue companion star. Astronomers used several telescopes, including NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, to study Cygnus X-1. The combined data have revealed the spin, mass, and distance of this black hole more precisely than ever before. 

Stephen William Hawking (1942–2018) was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author. He was the director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge.

Cygnus X-1 is a so-called stellar-mass black hole, a class of black holes that comes from the collapse of a massive star. The black hole pulls material from a massive, blue companion star toward it. This material forms a disk that rotates around the black hole before falling into it or being redirected away from the black hole in the form of powerful jets.

Astrophysics, scientists have determined the spin of Cygnus X-1 with unprecedented accuracy, showing that the black hole is spinning at very close to its maximum rate. Its event horizon—the point of no return for material falling towards a black hole—is spinning around more than 800 times a second.

Video Credit: NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory

Duration: 1 minute, 37 seconds 

Release Date: Nov. 28, 2011

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