2001 monolith / X-ray Echoes from Circinus X-1

[jabeoo1]

I am amazed by todays image from        http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html (see 05.08.2015)

The following is directly lifted from the page:

Explanation: Circinus X-1 is an X-ray binary star known for its erratic variability. In the bizarre Circinus X-1 system, a dense neutron star, the collapsed remnant of a supernova explosion, orbits with a more ordinary stellar companion. Observations of the X-ray binary in months following an intense X-ray flare from the source in 2013 progressively revealed striking concentric rings - bright X-raylight echoes from four intervening clouds of interstellar dust. In this X-ray/optical composite, the swaths of Chandra Observatory X-ray image data showing partial outlines of the rings are in false colors. Remarkably, timing the X-ray echoes, along with known distances to the interstellar dust clouds, determines the formerly highly uncertain distance to Circinus X-1 itself to be 30,700 light-years.

Unreal who need science fiction ??

 

[laudropb]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

[reddoss]

Thanks for sharing.

[DemosL]

I can hear the 2001 music now.