Identification of Cygnus X-1 with HDE 226868
Item
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Title
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Identification of Cygnus X-1 with HDE 226868
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Creator
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Bolton, C. Tom
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Date
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1972
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Description
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The first of two important journal articles by Tom Bolton on the discovery of the first black hole at Cygnus X-1. The abstract to the article states, "The ninth magnitude BOIb star HDE 226868 is closely coincident with the position of Cygnus X-1 and its associated variable radio source1. Dolan2 has pointed out that Cyg X-1 appears to be a two component X-ray source. One component has a synchrotron spectrum, and the other has a thermal (or bremsstrahlung) spectrum. The latter component varies on a time scale of days in a way that suggests it is being eclipsed. Therefore I decided to take photographic spectra of HDE 226868 to look for velocity and spectrum variations that might be correlated with the X-ray fluctuations. I find that the velocity of the star varies with a period consistent with that of the X-ray variation. It may not be possible, however, to interpret the X-ray variations in terms of simple eclipses."
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Bolton, C.T. (1972). Identification of Cygnus X-1 with HDE 226868. Nature, 235 (5336): 271-273.
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Rights
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Nature: International Journal of Science
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Source
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University of Toronto Mississauga Library
