Study links changing signals from Centaurus X-3 to an accretion stream
India’s science ministry said changing emission lines from the X-ray binary Centaurus X-3 can be explained by a stream of material flowing toward its neutron star. Kinjal Roy’s team at the Raman Research Institute examined four secondary emission lines already known to vary in earlier observations.
Source review period: 2026-10-21
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The researchers concluded that the line-producing structure must rotate with the neutron star. They attributed the changes to an accretion stream carrying matter from a disk toward the star’s magnetic poles, which implies that a disk is present in the system.
Centaurus X-3 is a high-mass X-ray binary about 24,000 light-years away; its companion star has more than ten times the Sun’s mass. The source says such binaries generally capture stellar wind directly, so the possible disk may need to be accounted for in future models of the system.
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Study of emission lines from Centaurus X-3
India’s Ministry of Science and Technology announced the research finding on 21 October.
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