APOD 2.5

This astronomy picture of the day is an artist's illustration of the black hole discovered to exist in the star system 4U1630--47. M. Weiss, the artist behind this incredible image, depicts a large blue star on the right, being drawn into this black hole. The hole expels some of the material, such as electrons and protons and the nuclei of metals like iron and nickel, outward in powerful jets. This discovery was made in system 4U1630-47 using CSIRO’s Compact Array of radio telescopes in eastern Australia, and the European Space Agency's Earth-orbiting XMM-Newton satellite. I chose this picture first because the contrasting colors caught my eye and I was intrigued. I also don't know very much at all about black holes, and clicking some of the links in NASA's description, I could learn more about them.