NASA | MSFC | SAO | Chandra X-ray Observatory | 2016 Nov 21
[c][imghover=http://chandra.si.edu/photo/2016/cygx3/cygx3.jpg]http://chandra.si.edu/photo/2016/cygx3/ ... el_525.jpg[/imghover]Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/M.McCollough et al, Radio: ASIAA/SAO/SMA[/c][hr][/hr]A snapshot of the life cycle of stars has been captured where a stellar nursery is reflecting X-rays from a source powered by an object at the endpoint of its evolution. This discovery, described in our latest press release, provides a new way to study how stars form.
This composite image shows X-rays from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (white) and radio data from the Smithsonian's Submillimeter Array (red and blue). The X-ray data reveal a bright X-ray source to the right known as Cygnus X-3, a system containing either a black hole or neutron star (a.k.a. a compact source) left behind after the death of a massive star. Within that bright source, the compact object is pulling material away from a massive companion star. Astronomers call such systems "X-ray binaries."
In 2003, astronomers presented results using Chandra's high-resolution vision in X-rays to identify a mysterious source of X-ray emission located very close to Cygnus X-3 on the sky (smaller white object to the upper left). The separation of these two sources is equivalent to the width of a penny about 800 feet away. A decade later, astronomers reported the new source is a cloud of gas and dust. In astronomical terms, this cloud is rather small - about 0.7 light years in diameter or under the distance between the Sun and Pluto's orbit.
Astronomers realized that this nearby cloud was acting as a mirror, reflecting some of the X-rays generated by Cygnus X-3 towards Earth. They nicknamed this object the "Little Friend" due to its close proximity to Cygnus X-3 on the sky and because it also demonstrated the same 4.8-hour variability in X-rays seen in the X-ray binary. ...
Cygnus X-3: Its Little Friend's Counterpart, the Distance to Cygnus X-3, and Outflows/Jets - M. McCollough, L. Corrales, M. Dunham
- Astrophysical Journal Letters 830(2):L36 (2016 Oct 20) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/830/2/L36
arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1610.01923 > 06 Oct 2016