| X-ray source | A class of celestial objects whose dominant mechanism of energy dissipation is through X-ray emission. Galactic X-ray sources appear optically as starlike objects, peculiar in their ultraviolet intensity, variability (on time scales ranging from milliseconds to weeks), and spectral features. All known compact X-ray sources are members of close binary systems; a current popular model is mass accretion onto a compact object from a massive companion. (Four X-ray sources - all variable - are known to be associated with globular clusters.) The 21 known extended X-ray sources associated with clusters of galaxies seem to be clouds of hot gas trapped in the cluster's gravitational field. | | celestial body | |
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