2020
Ref: SCART-2021-0105

On the signature of a 70-solar-mass black hole in LB-1

Abdul-Masih, M. ; Banyard, G. ; Bodensteiner, J. ; Bordier, E. ; Bowman, D. M. ; 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.


published in Nature, 580 issue 7805, pp. p.E11-E15 (2020)

Abstract: Liu et al. (2019) recently reported the detection of a 68 [+11/-13] solar mass (Msun) black hole (BH) paired with an 8.2 [+0.9/-1.2] Msun B-type sub-giant star in the 78.9-day spectroscopic binary system LB-1. Such a black hole is over twice as massive as any other known stellar-mass black hole with non-compact companions2 and its mass approaches those that result from BH-BH coalescences that are detected by gravitational wave interferometers. Its presence in a solar-like metallicity environment challenges conventional theories of massive binary evolution, stellar winds and core-collapse supernovae, so that more exotic scenarios seem to be needed to explain the existence and properties of LB-1. Here, we show that the observational diagnostics used to derive the BH mass results from the orbital motion of the B-type star, not that of the BH. As a consequence, no evidence for a massive BH remains in the data, therefore solving the existing tension with formation models of such a massive BH at solar metallicity and with theories of massive star evolution in general.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2216-x


The record appears in these collections:
Royal Observatory of Belgium > Astronomy & Astrophysics
Science Articles > Peer Reviewed Articles



 Record created 2021-07-16, last modified 2021-07-16