Cygnus X-1, first stellar black hole candidate
Cygnus X-1: primera evidencia de un agujero negro
- Date
- 1971-1972 · confidence high
- Place
- David Dunlap Observatory, Toronto, Canada
- Credited to
- Tom Bolton; Louise Webster and Paul Murdin (Greenwich); Uhuru satellite
- People
- 👤 Charles Thomas Bolton1943–2021👤 Louise Webster1941–1990👤 Paul Murdin1942–
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
The X-ray source Cygnus X-1 was identified with a supergiant star orbiting an invisible companion of more than 3 solar masses, too heavy to be a neutron star.
Webster and Murdin published from the Royal Greenwich Observatory almost simultaneously; famous Hawking-Thorne bet.
What it led to
- Acceptance of black holes as real objects
- X-ray astronomy
- X-ray binaries