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Q&A

Is it safe to orbit HDE 226868?

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I'm considering a story where an exploration is devised to explore a binary system containing a black hole; the choice is Cygnus X-1, with its companion supergiant star HDE 226868. It would likely be dangerous to orbit the black hole, as the accretion disk means that there will be high emission of potentially dangerous radiation (it's also full of extremely hot gas). Therefore, the explorers are orbiting the secondary, HDE 226868.

I'm wondering, though: Is it safe to orbit this star? The two objects may only be 0.2 astronomical units apart - one fifth Earth's distance to the Sun - and the star is undergoing heavy mass loss, as many supergiant stars do. Can the explorers orbit HDE 226868 without being exposed to high levels of radiation or other damaging effects? If so, how close could they orbit (the orbit must be stable over a period of at least one year, with minimal maneuvering by the ship)?

I'm assuming that the protective technology for the spacecraft they're traveling in is similar to our own, although obviously some advanced form of propulsion was required to get there. Additionally, the ship can orbit the entire system, if it has to, but preferably just the star.

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