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Astrophysics

Black hole found orbiting a fast rotator

Nature volume 505, pages 296–297 (2014)Cite this article

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Stars of spectral type 'Be' are often found with neutron stars or other evolved analogues, but a black-hole companion has never been spotted before. Optical emission from a black hole's surroundings has given it away. See Letter p.378

Stellar-mass black holes, which are formed from the gravitational collapse of massive stars, are unusually scarce in our Universe. It is not yet clear whether there are fewer of them than expected or whether they are just hard to find, but either way they are deserving of their exotic reputation. Therefore, the discovery by Casares et al.1, reported on page 378 of this issue, of a stellar-mass black hole orbiting around a star dubbed MWC 656 is like finding a needle in a haystack. This black hole does not emit X-ray radiation — as black holes are expected to do — so it could be the first sign of a large population of 'quiescent' black holes.

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Figure 1: A Be star with a black-hole companion.

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  1. M. Virginia McSwain is in the Department of Physics, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, USA.

    M. Virginia McSwain

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  1. M. Virginia McSwain
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Correspondence to M. Virginia McSwain.

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McSwain, M. Black hole found orbiting a fast rotator. Nature 505, 296–297 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/505296a

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