A bright disk of gas encircles a black hole in this illustration of the star system Cygnus X-3. The gas is supplied by the bright blue star, which is many times more massive than the Sun and tens of thousands of times brighter. Magnetic fields in the disk shoot some of the material back out into space as long, thin jets. [NASA/GSFC]
Find out more in our radio program entitled Cygnus X-3.