Knowledge Bank

Detecting and characterizing stellar mass black holes helps us learn about the physics of massive stars and supernovae. To efficiently discriminate between stellar binaries and binaries with black holes, we use archival data and high-contrast imaging observations. There is plenty of archival data about the velocities at which certain binary systems orbit each other, called radial velocities (RVs). We make use of this existing data, while combining it with adaptive optics (AO) images, to make better estimates of the orbital parameters of such star systems. Notably, we better estimate the mass of the companion star and the orbital inclination. For HD 104438, we observe a luminous companion and rule out black holes.