Black Hole and Companion Star in IC 10 X-1 System (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Black Hole and Companion Star in IC 10 X-1 System

Caption

In this artist's portrayal of the IC 10 X-1 system, the black hole lies at the upper left and its companion star is on the right. The two objects orbit around a center of gravity once every 34.4 hours. The stellar companion is a type known as a Wolf-Rayet star. Such stars are highly evolved and destined to explode as supernovae. The black hole companion is shedding its outer envelope in a powerful wind, and some of this gas is captured by the black hole's powerful gravity.

Credit

Aurore Simonnet/Sonoma State University/NASA.

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