New Study: Black Hole May Be Larger Than Expected voanews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from voanews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
February 24, 2021
New research suggests that the famous black hole Cygnus X-1 – first black hole ever detected and one of the closest to Earth – is farther away and much more massive than previously believed.
A new study suggests that one of the closest black holes to Earth, and the first ever detected, is both farther away and more massive than we thought.
The study – published February 18, 2021 in the peer-reviewed journal
Science – says that Cygnus X-1 is about 7,200 light-years from Earth, 20% farther away than astronomers had previously believed. Before the study’s new measurements, the black hole was believed to be about 6,100 light-years away and 15 times the mass of the sun. With an increase in distance, Cygnus X-1 is now believed to be 50% larger than previous estimates. That would make this black hole about 21 times the mass of our sun.
Scientific American
Cygnus X-1, the first black hole ever discovered, is significantly bigger than previously believed
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An image of the Cygnus X-1 system from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. Credit: NASA and CXC
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New evidence suggests the first known black hole is bigger than previously thought, which may force scientists to reconsider their understanding of how giant stars give rise to black holes.
Scientists think stellar-mass black holes, which contain up to a few times the sun s mass, form when giant stars die and collapse in on themselves. The first black hole ever discovered was Cygnus X-1, located within the Milky Way in the constellation of Cygnus, the Swan. Astronomers saw the first signs of the black hole in 1964 via gas it sucked away from a closely orbiting blue supergiant star. As this gas spiraled into the black hole, it became so hot it emitted high-energy X-rays and gamma-rays that satellites could detect.
Milky Way s black hole is more massive than astronomers thought: Tech News compsmag.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from compsmag.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.