Material stolen from a young star (blue) forms a disc (red) around a black hole or neutron star in this illustration of the system Cygnus X-3. Strong flares occasionally erupt from this disc (Illustration: Walter Feimer/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)From New Scientist:
After decades of searching, astronomers have confirmed that a gluttonous stellar remnant that glows brightly in X-rays can create high-energy gamma rays as well. The tiny powerhouse could serve as a nearby laboratory to study how particles are accelerated in the universe's biggest black holes.
Cygnus X-3, a pair of objects that sit some 30,000 light years from Earth, has long been a puzzle. The system is thought to contain the dense remnant of a star – either a black hole or a neutron star – that is feeding on a disc of material stolen from a companion star.
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