Stevance, H.F., Parsons, S.G. orcid.org/0000-0002-2695-2654 and Eldridge, J.J. (2022) To be or not to be a black hole : detailed binary population models as a sanity check. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, 511 (1). L77-L81.
Abstract
We use the self-consistent stellar populations in the Binary Population A Spectral Synthesis (BPASS) models to assess whether NGC 1850-BH1 is a black hole. Using search criteria based on reported physical properties in the literature we purposefully search for suitable systems with a black hole (or compact object) companion: we do not find any. Good matches to the observations are found in models where the bright component is a stripped star and the companion is natively (meaning we did not impose this in our search) 1 to 2.3 magnitudes fainter than the primary in the optical bands. This alone can explain the lack of detection of the companion in the MUSE spectra without the need to invoke rapid rotation, although the conservative mass transfer exhibited by these particular models is likely to lead to rapidly rotating companions which could further smear their spectroscopic signatures. We advise that future claims of unseen black holes in binary systems would benefit from exploring detailed binary evolution models of stellar populations as a sanity check.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Author(s). Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | stars: evolution; stars: black holes; (stars:) binaries: close; software: simulations |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Physics and Astronomy (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Science and Technology Facilities Council ST/R003424/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 28 Jan 2022 12:39 |
Last Modified: | 17 Nov 2022 15:34 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press (OUP) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/mnrasl/slac001 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:183031 |