Illustration of a high mass X-ray binary star system. A blue giant star (right), which is more than ten times the mass of the Sun, orbits a compact object such as a neutron star or magnetar. Charged particles - the solar wind - from the blue giant star are attracted by the gravitational pull of the partner object and produce x-ray emissions, shown as blue jets. X-ray binaries are often also visible at optical wavelengths because of the size of the companion star.