Related papers: NGC 1850 BH1 is another stripped-star binary masqu…

A black hole candidate orbiting a luminous star in the Large Magellanic Cloud young cluster NGC 1850 ($\sim100$Myr) has recently been reported based on radial velocity and light curve modelling. Subsequently, an alternative explanation has…

The recently claimed discovery of a massive ($M_\mathrm{BH}=68^{+11}_{-13}\,M_\odot$) black hole in the Galactic solar neighborhood has led to controversial discussions because it severely challenges our current view of stellar evolution. A…

We report the detection of a black hole (NGC 1850 BH1) in the $\sim$100 Myr-old massive cluster NGC~1850 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is in a binary system with a main-sequence turn-off star (4.9 $\pm$ 0.4 M${_\odot}$), which is…

As part of our massive spectroscopic survey of 25 Galactic globular clusters with MUSE, we performed multiple epoch observations of NGC 3201 with the aim of constraining the binary fraction. In this cluster, we found one curious star at the…

We use the self-consistent stellar populations in the Binary Population A Spectral Synthesis (BPASS) models to assess whether NGC1850-BH1 is a black hole. Using search criteria based on reported physical properties in the literature we…

HR 6819 is a bright ($V=5.36$), blue star recently proposed to be a triple containing a detached black hole (BH). We show that the system is a binary and does not contain a BH. Using spectral decomposition, we disentangle the observed…

Recent studies of massive binaries with putative black hole companions have uncovered a phase of binary evolution that has not been observed before, featuring a bloated stripped star that very recently ceased transferring mass to a…

Studies of young clusters have shown that a large fraction of O-/early B-type stars are in binary systems, where the binary fraction increases with mass. These massive stars are present in clusters of a few Myrs, but gradually disappear for…

The recently discovered binary LB-1 has been reported to contain a $\sim$\,$70\,M_{\odot}$ black hole (BH). The evidence for the unprecedentedly high mass of the unseen companion comes from reported radial velocity (RV) variability of the…

We analyse the apparent disagreement between the mass estimates of the central black hole(s) in Mkn~501 based on (i) the observations of the host galaxy, (ii) the high energy (HE) emission mechanism, and (iii) the modulation of the beamed…

The intriguing binary LS V +22 25 (LB-1) has drawn much attention following claims of it being a single-lined spectroscopic binary with a 79-day orbit comprising a B-type star and a ~70 Msun black hole. Recent analyses have implied that the…

Standard binary evolutionary models predict a significant population of core helium-burning stars that lost their hydrogen-rich envelope after mass transfer via Roche-lobe overflow. However, there is a scarcity of observations of such…

HD~5501, a hitherto little studied eclipsing binary with an early A-type primary, has been caught in a short-lived, astrophysically interesting phase of its binary evolution. Recent photometric and spectroscopic observations, including…

We report spectroscopic and photometric follow-up of a dormant black hole (BH) candidate from Gaia DR3. The system, which we call Gaia BH2, contains a $\sim 1M_{\odot}$ red giant and a dark companion with mass $M_2 = 8.9\pm 0.3\,M_{\odot}$…

At about 70 solar masses, the recently-discovered dark object orbited by a B-type star in the system LB-1 is difficult to understand as the end point of standard stellar evolution, except as a binary black hole (BBH). LB-1 shows a strong,…

We model the Galactic population of detached binaries that harbor black holes with (0.5-1.7) solar mass companions -- the remnants of case B mass-exchange that rapidly cross Hertzsprung gap after the termination of the Roche-lobe overflow…

While the number of stellar-mass black holes detected in X-rays or as gravitational wave sources is steadily increasing, the known population remains orders of magnitude smaller than predicted by stellar evolution theory. A significant…

An optical spectrum of the Elson et al. (1998) candidate luminous white dwarf in the young LMC cluster NGC1818 shows conclusively that it is not a degenerate star. A model atmosphere fit gives T=31,500K and log g=4.4, typical of a…

If confirmed, a wide binary system of 70 $M_{\odot}$ black hole (BH) and an 8 $M_{\odot}$ main sequence star (LB-1) is observed to reside in the Milky Way (MW). We show that long term evolution of an 8 $M_{\odot}$ star around a BH with mass…

Motivated by recent suggestions that many Be stars form through binary mass transfer, we searched the APOGEE survey for Be stars with bloated, stripped companions. From a well-defined parent sample of 297 Be stars, we identified one…