Black hole binariestwo-body systems in which at least one is a black holeare fairly commonplace in the universe.
The teams research describing the system and its newly discovered member waspublishedtoday inNature.
Suchblack hole echoesare a great way for scientists tocharacterize the intense environmentsaround black holes.
An artist’s rendering of a central black hole consuming a star, with a second star orbiting in background.Image: Jorge Lugo
By the teams measure, the inner star orbits the black hole in a little less than a week.
In contrast, the outer star orbits the body every 70,000 years.
Thats a lot of weeks3.64 million, to be exact.
In other words, V404 Cygniisa triple system, but a disparate one.
But theres more to this than the mere novelty of three bodies in orbit.
But if not by a supernova, how was the black hole born?
(Spoilers have now concluded.)
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