Multiwavelength Astronomy Multimedia


Title

The First Black Hole

Description

Since its discovery in 1962, the X-ray binary star Cygnus X-1 has been one of the most intensively studied cosmic X-ray sources. About a decade after its discovery, Cygnus X-1 secured a place in the history of astronomy when a combination of space-based, X-ray observations by the Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical, ground-based observations by the Digitized Sky Survey led to the conclusion that it was a black hole, the first such identification. This is a Chandra X-ray image of Cygnus X-1.

Facility

Chandra X-ray Observatory

Subject

  • Cygnus X-1
  • Black Hole
  • Compact Object

Spectral Type

X-ray

Credits

NASA/CXC

Type

Observation

Associated Lesson

X-Ray History

This material is based upon work supported by NASA under Grant Nos. NNX09AD33G and NNX10AE80G issued through the SMD ROSES 2009 Program.

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