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

Abstract

All stellar mass black holes have hitherto been identified by X-rays emitted by gas that is accreting onto the black hole from a companion star. These systems are all binaries with black holes below 30 M${}_{\odot }$${}^{1-4}$. Theory predicts, however, that X-ray emitting systems form a minority of the total population of star-black hole binaries${}^{5,6}$. When the black hole is not accreting gas, it can be found through radial velocity measurements of the motion of the companion star. Here we report radial velocity measurements of a Galactic star, LB-1, which is a B-type star, taken over two years. We find that the motion of the B-star and an accompanying H$\alpha$ emission line require the presence of a dark companion with a mass of $68_{-13}^{+11}$ M${}_{\odot }$, which can only be a black hole. The long orbital period of 78.9 days shows that this is a wide binary system. The gravitational wave experiments have detected similarly massive black holes${}^{7,8}$, but forming such massive ones in a high-metallicity environment would be extremely challenging to current stellar evolution theories${}^{9-11}$.

Published in Nature on Nov 28, 2019

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