An X-ray image shows hot gas spiraling into a black hole in the Milky Way galaxy. The system, known as VLA J2130+12 (a catalog designation), consists of a black hole a few times the mass of the Sun, and a companion star that is much smaller than the Sun. The black hole pulls gas from the companion, forming a hot disk around the black hole. As this material spirals inward it gets extremely hot, so it emits X-rays. [NASA/CXC/Univ. of Alberta/B.Tetarenko et al]