Cygnus X-1 contains a 21–solar mass black hole—Implications for massive star winds

2021/02/18 by J. C. A. Miller‐Jones, Arash Bahramian, Jerome A. Orosz +23 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae

paper · doi:10.1126/science.abb3363

openalex publication_date 2021/02/18 · openalex created_date 2021/03/01 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

The evolution of massive stars is influenced by the mass lost to stellar winds over their lifetimes. These winds limit the masses of the stellar remnants (such as black holes) that the stars ultimately produce. We used radio astrometry to refine the distance to the black hole x-ray binary Cygnus X-1, which we found to be [Formula: see text] kiloparsecs. When combined with archival optical data, this implies a black hole mass of 21.2 ± 2.2 solar masses, which is higher than previous measurements. The formation of such a high-mass black hole in a high-metallicity system (within the Milky Way) constrains wind mass loss from massive stars.

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Cited by

• A Novel Method of Modeling Extended Emission of Compact Jets: Application to Swift J1727.8-1613
• Cygnus (constellation) [wikipedia]