Streamers of hot gas swirl into the maw of a black hole in this artist’s concept of GRO J1655-40, a “microquasar” about 10,000 light-years from Earth. The black hole is devouring a companion star, ripping gas from its surface and ingesting it. As the gas spirals toward the black hole it’s heated to millions of degrees, making the system shine brightly. [NASA/CXC/A.Hobart]
Find out more in our radio program entitled Microquasar.