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accretion disk

   Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
accretion disk
n.
A disk of interstellar material surrounding a celestial object with an intense gravitational field, such as a black hole.
accretion disk
A spinning disk of gas and dust surrounding a celestial object with an intense gravitational field, such as a star or a black hole. In binary star systems, the gravitational attraction of the denser star can pull matter from the other star into an accretion disk in its own orbit. The material in the accretion disk eventually spirals into the attracting star and adds to its mass. The gas in accretion disks that surround black holes becomes condensed and heated as it is sucked into the hole, emitting x-rays and other radiation that provide evidence for the presence of the black hole.


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Had the black hole been rotating any slower, it couldn't have whipped nearby space-time into quite as strong a tornado, and the inner part of the accretion disk couldn't have extended quite so close to the event horizon--the boundary between the black hole's maw and the outside world.
A new spin: X-rays shed light on black holes by Cowen, Ron / Science News
Laboratory scientists have demonstrated on Z-pinch facilities that scaled versions of these accretion disk conditions can be recreated for close-up scrutiny.
Livermore Lab Physicist to Discuss Exploration of Supernovae, Black ... by Business Wire
Gas from the star is pulled toward the black hole, where it forms what's called an accretion disk.
Magnetic thrust: fields force matter into black holes by Jaffe, E. / Science News
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