Microquasars Could Be Source of High-Energy Cosmic Rays

Observations of the most powerful microquasar in the Milky Way, SS 433, suggest it could accelerate particles to the high energies observed in cosmic rays.

Scientists have found evidence that microquasars, small black holes that feed on stars, could be responsible for high-energy cosmic rays bombarding Earth.
The most powerful microquasar in the Milky Way, SS 433, was observed emitting extremely high-energy gamma rays, indicating that it could accelerate particles to the high energies observed in cosmic rays.
SS 433, located in the Manatee Nebula, consists of a black hole and a supergiant star, with the black hole stripping material from the star and blasting it out at high speeds.
Observations showed that the jets of material ejected from SS 433 reemerge in high-energy X-ray light around 75 light-years from the microquasar's origin, suggesting that something within each jet is accelerating particles to even higher energies.
Despite these findings, SS 433 cannot be the source of the very high-energy cosmic rays detected on Earth due to its age, but other, older microquasars could be contributing to these cosmic rays.