High-energy astrophysics: A hole lot bigger

The X-ray source GRS1915+105 is of interest to high-energy physicists as a 'laboratory' in which an accreting black hole and superluminal jets can be observed at the same time. New observations have produced an estimate of the mass of the black hole component of this binary system of 14 solar masses—a difficulty for the conventional model of black hole formation that predicts a maximum of seven solar masses. The mass also conflicts with predictions based on any model of the 'quasiperiodic oscillations' seen in the X-ray emission.

An unusually massive stellar black hole in the Galaxy
J. GREINER, J. G. CUBY & M. J. MCCAUGHREAN
Nature 414, 522-525 (29 November 2001)
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High-energy astrophysics: A new spin on black-hole masses
CHARLES BAILYN
The extreme environment surrounding a black hole provides an ideal test bed for the predictions of general relativity. New observations of a spinning black hole push current theories to their limits.
Nature 414, 499-501 (29 November 2001)
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29 November 2001 table of contents