Spring 2018 ASTR 1200-001: X-ray Binary Systems

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The x-ray sky observed by the HEAO-1 satellite (1980)

Allsky map of x-ray sources from HEAO-1

Cygnus X-1 (black hole)

The mass of the black hole in Cygnus-X1 has been measured to be 14.8 ± 1.0 solar masses (Orosz et al. 2011).
Its spin parameter, greater than 0.97, is near maximal (Guo et al. 2011).


X-ray	Optical
Artist's impression

Hercules X-1 (neutron star)

X-ray pulsations of Her X-1

X-ray image of Her X-1

The microquasar (x-ray binary with jets) XTE J1550-564

XTE J1550-564

The sound of X-rays from GRS1915+105, an x-ray binary with a jet, from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. The sound includes:

“lub-dubbing” pulsations produced by jets;
high pitched “whistling” from quasi-periodic oscillations in the rotating disk.

Spring 2018 ASTR 1200-001 Homepage

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Updated 2018 Mar 14