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An international research team under participation of STRUCTURES member Fabian Schneider discovered a “dormant” black hole in a binary-star system outside our galaxy. These black holes are very difficult to find because they do not emit X-ray radiation.
In their study, published in Nature Astronomy, the researchers reported the first discovery of a ‘dormant’ stellar-mass black hole, VFTS243, outside the Milky Way galaxy, based on observations with ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT). Stellar-mass black holes form when massive stars collapse under their own gravity at the end of their lives. If this happens in a binary system, the resulting black hole will be orbiting a luminous companion star. Such black holes often accrete material from their companion and emit powerful X-rays, but a “dormant” black hole does not. Astronomers suspect that many more dormant black holes exist than previously thought. The team also found that the star that gave rise to VFTS243 disappeared without evidence of a strong supernova explosion, indicating a ‘direct-collapse’ scenario. The new results have significant implications for the origin of black-hole mergers in the cosmos.
Original Publication (July 18, 2022):
Shenar et al: An X-ray quiet black hole born with a negligible kick in a massive binary within the LMC. Nature Astronomy.