NGC 2004 #115: a black hole imposter containing three luminous stars
Kareem El-Badry,
Kevin B. Burdge,
Przemek MrΓ³z
Abstract:NGC 2004 #115 is a recently identified black hole (BH) candidate in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) containing a B star orbiting an unseen companion in a 2.9 day orbit and Be star tertiary. We show that the unseen companion is not a 25 π BH, but a (2 β 3) π luminous star. Analyzing the OGLE and MACHO light curves of the system, we detect ellipsoidal variability with amplitude 10 times larger than would be expected if the companion were a 25 π BH, ruling out the low inclination required for a massive compan… Show more
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