allows us to probe the properties of the black hole itself. We numerically model the appearance of these systems in X-rays (see Fig. 1). While current X-ray observatories cannot directly image the ...
Some of this glowing matter envelops the black hole in a whirling region called an accretion disk. Even the matter that starts falling into a black hole isn't necessarily there to stay.
Here's a simulation of what the Event Horizon Team thought the black hole would look like. And here's the real image. The light you see here is what's called the accretion disk. It's a disk of ...