Formation of a Black Hole in the Dark
Abstract
We show that the black hole in the x-ray binary Cygnus X-1 was formed in situ and did not receive an energetic trigger from a nearby supernova. The progenitor of the black hole had an initial mass greater than 40 solar masses, and during the collapse to form the ~10-solar mass black hole of Cygnus X-1, the upper limit for the mass that could have been suddenly ejected is ~1 solar mass, much less than the mass ejected in a supernova. The observations suggest that high-mass stellar black holes may form promptly, when massive stars disappear silently.
- Publication:
-
Science
- Pub Date:
- May 2003
- DOI:
- 10.1126/science.1083451
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/0305205
- Bibcode:
- 2003Sci...300.1119M
- Keywords:
-
- ASTRONOMY;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 8 pages, 1 color figure, PDF version only. Link to the comments article in Science Now: http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2003/424/2