A wide star-black-hole binary system from radial-velocity measurements

Jifeng Liu^{1

2

3}, Haotong Zhang⁴, Andrew W Howard⁵, Zhongrui Bai⁶, Youjun Lu^{6

7}, Roberto Soria^{7

8}, Stephen Justham^{6

7

9}, Xiangdong Li^{10

11}, Zheng Zheng¹², Tinggui Wang¹³, Krzysztof Belczynski¹⁴, Jorge Casares^{15

16}, Wei Zhang⁶, Hailong Yuan⁶, Yiqiao Dong⁶, Yajuan Lei⁶, Howard Isaacson¹⁷, Song Wang⁶, Yu Bai⁶, Yong Shao^{10

11}, Qing Gao⁶, Yilun Wang^{6

7}, Zexi Niu^{6

7}, Kaiming Cui^{6

7}, Chuanjie Zheng^{6

7}, Xiaoyong Mu⁷, Lan Zhang⁶, Wei Wang^{18

19}, Alexander Heger²⁰, Zhaoxiang Qi^{6

21}, Shilong Liao²¹, Mario Lattanzi²², Wei-Min Gu²³, Junfeng Wang²³, Jianfeng Wu²³, Lijing Shao²⁴, Rongfeng Shen²⁵, Xiaofeng Wang²⁶, Joel Bregman²⁷, Rosanne Di Stefano²⁸, Qingzhong Liu²⁹, Zhanwen Han³⁰, Tianmeng Zhang⁶, Huijuan Wang⁶, Juanjuan Ren⁶, Junbo Zhang⁶, Jujia Zhang³⁰, Xiaoli Wang³⁰, Antonio Cabrera-Lavers^{15

31}, Romano Corradi^{15

31}, Rafael Rebolo^{16

31}, Yongheng Zhao^{6

7}, Gang Zhao^{6

7}, Yaoquan Chu¹³, Xiangqun Cui³²

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. jfliu@nao.cas.cn.
² School of Astronomy and Space Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. jfliu@nao.cas.cn.
³ WHU-NAOC Joint Center for Astronomy, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China. jfliu@nao.cas.cn.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. htzhang@bao.ac.cn.
⁵ Department of Astronomy, Caltech, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁷ School of Astronomy and Space Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁸ Sydney Institute for Astronomy, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁹ The Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
¹⁰ School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
¹¹ Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics (Nanjing University), Ministry of Education, Nanjing, China.
¹² Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
¹³ CAS Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Department of Astronomy, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
¹⁴ Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
¹⁵ Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, La Laguna, Spain.
¹⁶ Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.
¹⁷ Astronomy Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
¹⁸ WHU-NAOC Joint Center for Astronomy, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
¹⁹ School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
²⁰ Monash Centre for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
²¹ Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
²² INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Pino Torinese, Italy.
²³ Department of Astronomy, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
²⁴ Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, Beijing, China.
²⁵ School of Physics and Astronomy, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, China.
²⁶ Physics Department and Tsinghua Center for Astrophysics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
²⁷ Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
²⁸ Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, USA.
²⁹ Key Laboratory of Dark Matter and Space Astronomy, Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.
³⁰ Key Laboratory for the Structure and Evolution of Celestial Objects, Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.
³¹ GRANTECAN, Breña Baja, Spain.
³² Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.

PMID: 31776491
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1766-2

A wide star-black-hole binary system from radial-velocity measurements

Jifeng Liu et al. Nature. 2019 Nov.

. 2019 Nov;575(7784):618-621.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1766-2. Epub 2019 Nov 27.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. jfliu@nao.cas.cn.
² School of Astronomy and Space Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. jfliu@nao.cas.cn.
³ WHU-NAOC Joint Center for Astronomy, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China. jfliu@nao.cas.cn.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. htzhang@bao.ac.cn.
⁵ Department of Astronomy, Caltech, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁷ School of Astronomy and Space Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁸ Sydney Institute for Astronomy, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁹ The Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
¹⁰ School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
¹¹ Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics (Nanjing University), Ministry of Education, Nanjing, China.
¹² Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
¹³ CAS Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Department of Astronomy, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
¹⁴ Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
¹⁵ Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, La Laguna, Spain.
¹⁶ Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.
¹⁷ Astronomy Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
¹⁸ WHU-NAOC Joint Center for Astronomy, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
¹⁹ School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
²⁰ Monash Centre for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
²¹ Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
²² INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Pino Torinese, Italy.
²³ Department of Astronomy, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
²⁴ Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, Beijing, China.
²⁵ School of Physics and Astronomy, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, China.
²⁶ Physics Department and Tsinghua Center for Astrophysics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
²⁷ Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
²⁸ Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, USA.
²⁹ Key Laboratory of Dark Matter and Space Astronomy, Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.
³⁰ Key Laboratory for the Structure and Evolution of Celestial Objects, Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.
³¹ GRANTECAN, Breña Baja, Spain.
³² Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.

PMID: 31776491
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1766-2

Abstract

All stellar-mass black holes have hitherto been identified by X-rays emitted from gas that is accreting onto the black hole from a companion star. These systems are all binaries with a black-hole mass that is less than 30 times that of the Sun^1-4. Theory predicts, however, that X-ray-emitting systems form a minority of the total population of star-black-hole binaries^5,6. When the black hole is not accreting gas, it can be found through radial-velocity measurements of the motion of the companion star. Here we report radial-velocity measurements taken over two years of the Galactic B-type star, LB-1. We find that the motion of the B star and an accompanying Hα emission line require the presence of a dark companion with a mass of [Formula: see text] solar masses, which can only be a black hole. The long orbital period of 78.9 days shows that this is a wide binary system. Gravitational-wave experiments have detected black holes of similar mass, but the formation of such massive ones in a high-metallicity environment would be extremely challenging within current stellar evolution theories.

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Comment in

On the signature of a 70-solar-mass black hole in LB-1.
Abdul-Masih M, Banyard G, Bodensteiner J, Bordier E, Bowman DM, Dsilva K, Fabry M, Hawcroft C, Mahy L, Marchant P, Raskin G, Reggiani M, Shenar T, Tkachenko A, Van Winckel H, Vermeylen L, Sana H. Abdul-Masih M, et al. Nature. 2020 Apr;580(7805):E11-E15. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2216-x. Epub 2020 Apr 29. Nature. 2020. PMID: 32350474 No abstract available.
Reply to: On the signature of a 70-solar-mass black hole in LB-1.
Liu J, Soria R, Zheng Z, Zhang H, Lu Y, Wang S, Yuan H. Liu J, et al. Nature. 2020 Apr;580(7805):E16-E17. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2217-9. Nature. 2020. PMID: 32350475 No abstract available.

References

1. McClintock, J. E. & Remillard, R. A. in Compact Stellar X-ray Sources (eds Lewin, W. H. G. & van der Klis, M.) 157–213 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006).
1. Casares, J. et al. A Be-type star with a black-hole companion. Nature 505, 378–381 (2014). - PubMed - DOI
1. Silverman, J. M. & Filippenko, A. V. On IC 10 X-1, the most massive known stellar-mass black hole. Astrophys. J. 678, L17–L20 (2008). - DOI
1. Crowther, P. A. et al. NGC 300 X-1 is a Wolf-Rayet/black hole binary. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 403, L41–L45 (2010). - DOI
1. Romani, R. W. A census of low mass black hole binaries. Astron. Astrophys. 333, 583–590 (1998).

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A wide star-black-hole binary system from radial-velocity measurements

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A wide star-black-hole binary system from radial-velocity measurements

Authors

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Abstract

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