A → binary system where an ordinary star orbits around a
→ neutron star or a
→ stellar-mass black hole
that accretes the outer layers of the star’s atmosphere.
The accreted material falling on the → compact object
warms up drastically and emits huge amounts of energy as
→ X-rays. The → accretion disk
that emits this radiation also produces → relativistic
jets of → plasma along the rotation axis of the
compact object. The jets of material exhibit superluminal motion and resemble
those emitted from → quasars, but on scales millions
of times smaller. The first microquasar, 1E1740.7-2942, was discovered by
F. Mirabel et al. 1992, Nature, 358, 215.
See also: → micro- + → quasar.
