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The youngest member of an important class of objects has been found using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Australia Compact Telescope Array. A new study shows that the X-ray binary called Circinus X-1 is less than 4, 600 years old, making it the youngest ever seen. Astronomers have detected hundreds of X-ray binaries throughout the Milky Way and other nearby galaxies. However, these older X-ray binaries only reveal information about what happens later in the evolution of these systems. This discovery allows scientists to study a critical phase after a supernova and the birth of a neutron star. Systems known as X-ray binaries are some of the brightest X-ray sources in the sky. They consist of either an ultra-dense star packed with neutrons (neutron star) or a black hole that is paired with a normal star like the Sun. As these two objects orbit one another, the neutron star or black hole pulls material from the companion star onto it. Release date December 4, 2013.
