Editing Cygnus X-1



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| name                = Cygnus X-1
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| stars               = Black Hole/Supergiant binary<ref name=EC6>''Explorer Corps'', p. 6, "The Early Years"</ref>
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| planets             = 
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==Overview==
'''Cygnus X-1''' is a binary star system composed of a black hole and a supergiant primary, where matter from the supergiant forms an accretion disk around the black hole and generates a vast outflow of X-ray radiation.<ref name=EC6/> In [[3002]] it was visited by the [[Explorer Corps]] vessel ECV ''[[Herschel]]'' that had previously surveyed the star [[Sador]] (Gamma Cygni) and then traveled a short distance from there to Cygnus X-1 which they studied from a "safe distance" (see Notes).

It seems unlikely that such a system could have planets; even if it did, it seems safe to assume they would be uninhabitable, given that the ''Herschel'' had to keep a notable distance to study the system.

==Notes==
* [[w:Cygnus X-1|Cygnus X-1]] is a real stellar object, known to be a source of intense X-ray radiation and thought to be a black hole. Like its [[BattleTech]] counterpart, it is closely orbited by a blue supergiant star that gives off matter which forms an accretion disk around Cygnus X-1. However, the real Cygnus X-1 system is located ca. 6,070 light years from the [[Sol]] system whereas its BattleTech counterpart was reached after traveling a short distance from Sador, which in turn was described as merely 815 light years away from Sol (whereas the real, nonfictional Sador is some 1,800 light years from Sol). It could be assumed that the "safe distance" the ''Herschel'' had to keep from the Cygnus X-1 black hole/supergiant binary system was measured in astronomical terms, and that the vessel therefore traveled a short distance from Sador to observe Cygnus X-1 from a safe distance that was actually several hundred light-years away.
* The actual positions of Sador or Cygnus X-1 on the BattleTech star map are unspecified, though like their real-world counterparts they apparently lie in almost the same direction as seen from [[Earth]].
* Despite the presence of the black hole and its real-world nature as primarily an intense source of X-ray radiation, Cygnus X-1 is considered a (binary) star system for the purpose of the Sarna [[BattleTechWiki]] rather than solely an astronomical feature.

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Explorer Corps (sourcebook)|Explorer Corps]]''

[[Category:Systems|Cygnus X-1]]