accretion

X-ray binaries are binary star systems where a neutron star or black hole pulls gas from a companion star, converting gravitational energy into X-rays with an efficiency that dwarfs nuclear fusion. They are among the brightest X-ray sources in the sky and natural laboratories for extreme physics.

Every planet in our solar system grew from a thin disk of gas and dust that surrounded the young Sun 4.6 billion years ago. Modern telescopes now image these disks around other stars in stunning detail, revealing a process far more violent, chaotic, and fast than scientists once imagined.