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EMBARGOED for release 2:00 p.m., EDT, September 12, 2001

Embargo Includes All Text and Graphics

Black-Hole Microquasar XTE J1118+480

Path of Black Hole's Orbit Through the Milky Way

Orbital path of black-hole microquasar XTE J1118+480, over the past 230 million years. The black hole's orbital path is traced by the red line, with its current position shown at the end of the line. The yellow circles indicate the position of the Sun and Solar System.

CREDIT: I. Rodrigues and I.F. Mirabel, NRAO/AUI/NSF.


XTE J1118+480

CREDIT: I. Rodrigues and I.F. Mirabel, Space Telescope Science Institute, NRAO/AUI/NSF.


XTE J1118+480

The orbital-path graphic shown above with, at top left, an artist's conception of the black hole binary and its accretion disk (blue), pulling material from its companion star at left. At top right is a graph showing the variations in the X-ray brightness of XTE J1118+480 from January through July of 2000.

CREDIT: I. Rodrigues and I.F. Mirabel, NRAO/AUI/NSF.