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Constellations

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A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived outline or pattern, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the earliest constellations likely go back to prehistory.  Here are some of my favorite Constellations : 1. ORION Orion is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous and recognizable constellations in the night sky. It is named after Orion, a hunter in Greek mythology. Its brightest stars are blue-white Rigel and red Betelgeuse. 2. CANIS MAJOR Canis Major is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere. In the second century, it was included in Ptolemy's 48 constellations, and is counted among the 88 modern constellations. 3. CYGNUS Cygnus is a northern constellation on the plane of the Milky Way, deriving its name from the Latinized Greek word for swan. Cygnus is one of the most

Cygnus X-1

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Cygnus X-1 (abbreviated Cyg X-1) is a well-known galactic X-ray source. It is thought to be a black hole in the constellation Cygnus. It was discovered in 1964 during a rocket flight, and is one of the strongest X-ray sources seen from Earth. Cygnus X-1 was the first X-ray source accepted as a black hole. It is among the most studied astronomical objects in its class. The compact object is estimated to have a mass about 14.8 times the mass of the Sun. It is too small to be any known kind of normal star, or other likely object besides a black hole. If so, the radius of its event horizon is about 44 km. The location of Cygnus X-1 (circled) to the left of Eta Cygni in the constellation Cygnus based on known coordinates Cygnus X-1 belongs to a high-mass X-ray binary system, located about 6,070 light-years from the Sun, that includes a blue supergiant variable star designated HDE 226868 which it orbits at about 0.2 AU, or 20% of the distance from Earth to the Sun. A stellar wind from the st