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Find out more Skip to Main Content Advertisement Oxford Academic Journals Books * Search Menu * Information * Account * Menu * Information * Account Navbar Search Filter [Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society] Mobile Microsite Search Term [ ] Search * Sign In + * Issues + Volume 517, Issue 4, December 2022 (In Progress) + Volume 517, Issue 3, December 2022 (In Progress) + Volume 517, Issue 2, December 2022 + Browse all * Advance articles * Submit + Author Guidelines + Submission Site + Open Access * Purchase * Alerts * About + About Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society + About the Royal Astronomical Society + Editorial Board + Rights and Permissions + Self-Archiving Policy + Advertising and Corporate Services + Journals Career Network + Contact Us * Journals on Oxford Academic * Books on Oxford Academic RAS Journals Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Royal Astronomical Society * Issues + Volume 517, Issue 4, December 2022 (In Progress) + Volume 517, Issue 3, December 2022 (In Progress) + Volume 517, Issue 2, December 2022 + Browse all * Advance articles * Submit + Author Guidelines + Submission Site + Open Access * Purchase * Alerts * About + About Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society + About the Royal Astronomical Society + Editorial Board + Rights and Permissions + Self-Archiving Policy + Advertising and Corporate Services + Journals Career Network + Contact Us Close Navbar Search Filter [Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society] Microsite Search Term [ ] Search Advanced Search Search Menu Article Navigation Close mobile search navigation Article Navigation Article Navigation Article Navigation Journal Article Accepted manuscript A Sun-like star orbiting a black hole Get access Arrow Kareem El-Badry, Kareem El-Badry Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA Harvard Society of Fellows , 78 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy , Konigstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany E-mail: kareem.el-badry@cfa.harvard.edu ORCID logo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6871-1752 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Hans-Walter Rix, Hans-Walter Rix Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy , Konigstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Eliot Quataert, Eliot Quataert Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University , Princeton, NJ 08544, USA ORCID logo https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9185-5044 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Andrew W Howard, Andrew W Howard Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Howard Isaacson, Howard Isaacson Department of Astronomy, University of California , Berkeley, 501 Campbell Hall #3411, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA Centre for Astrophysics, University of Southern Queensland , Toowoomba, QLD, Australia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Jim Fuller, Jim Fuller Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA ORCID logo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4544-0750 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Keith Hawkins, Keith Hawkins Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , 2515 Speedway Boulevard, Austin, TX 78712, USA ORCID logo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1423-2174 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Katelyn Breivik, Katelyn Breivik Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 Fifth Ave, New York, NY, 10010, USA Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Kaze W K Wong, Kaze W K Wong Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 Fifth Ave, New York, NY, 10010, USA Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Antonio C Rodriguez, Antonio C Rodriguez Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS ... Show more Charlie Conroy, Charlie Conroy Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Sahar Shahaf, Sahar Shahaf Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 7610001, Israel ORCID logo https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9298-8068 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Tsevi Mazeh, Tsevi Mazeh School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel ORCID logo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3569-3391 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Frederic Arenou, Frederic Arenou GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, Universite PSL , CNRS, 5 Place Jules Janssen, 92190 Meudon, France Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Kevin B Burdge, Kevin B Burdge MIT-Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research 77 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge , MA 02139, USA Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Dolev Bashi, Dolev Bashi School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel ORCID logo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9035-2645 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Simchon Faigler, Simchon Faigler School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Daniel R Weisz, Daniel R Weisz Department of Astronomy, University of California , Berkeley, 501 Campbell Hall #3411, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA ORCID logo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6442-6030 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Rhys Seeburger, Rhys Seeburger Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy , Konigstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany ORCID logo https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8898-9463 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Silvia Almada Monter, Silvia Almada Monter Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy , Konigstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Jennifer Wojno Jennifer Wojno Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy , Konigstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ADS Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, stac3140, https:// doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac3140 Published: 02 November 2022 * Views + Article contents + Figures & tables + Video + Audio + Supplementary Data * Cite Cite Kareem El-Badry, Hans-Walter Rix, Eliot Quataert, Andrew W Howard, Howard Isaacson, Jim Fuller, Keith Hawkins, Katelyn Breivik, Kaze W K Wong, Antonio C Rodriguez, Charlie Conroy, Sahar Shahaf, Tsevi Mazeh, Frederic Arenou, Kevin B Burdge, Dolev Bashi, Simchon Faigler, Daniel R Weisz, Rhys Seeburger, Silvia Almada Monter, Jennifer Wojno, A Sun-like star orbiting a black hole, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2022;, stac3140, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac3140 Select Format [Select format ] Download citation Close * Permissions Icon Permissions * Share + Email + Twitter + Facebook + More Navbar Search Filter [Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society] Mobile Microsite Search Term [ ] Search * Sign In + Close Navbar Search Filter [Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society] Microsite Search Term [ ] Search Advanced Search Search Menu Abstract We report discovery of a bright, nearby (|$G = 13.8;\, \, d = 480\, \rm pc$|) Sun-like star orbiting a dark object. We identified the system as a black hole candidate via its astrometric orbital solution from the Gaia mission. Radial velocities validated and refined the Gaia solution, and spectroscopy ruled out significant light contributions from another star. Joint modeling of radial velocities and astrometry constrains the companion mass to M[2] = 9.62 +- 0.18 M [[?]]. The spectroscopic orbit alone sets a minimum companion mass of M [2] > 5 M[[?]]; if the companion were a 5 M[[?]] star, it would be 500 times more luminous than the entire system. These constraints are insensitive to the mass of the luminous star, which appears as a slowly-rotating G dwarf (|$T_{\rm eff}=5850\, \rm K$|, log g = 4.5, M = 0.93 M[[?]]), with near-solar metallicity (|$\rm [Fe/H] = -0.2$|) and an unremarkable abundance pattern. We find no plausible astrophysical scenario that can explain the orbit and does not involve a black hole. The orbital period, P[orb] = 185.6 days, is longer than that of any known stellar-mass black hole binary. The system's modest eccentricity (e = 0.45), high metallicity, and thin-disk Galactic orbit suggest that it was born in the Milky Way disk with at most a weak natal kick. How the system formed is uncertain. Common envelope evolution can only produce the system's wide orbit under extreme and likely unphysical assumptions. Formation models involving triples or dynamical assembly in an open cluster may be more promising. This is the nearest known black hole by a factor of 3, and its discovery suggests the existence of a sizable population of dormant black holes in binaries. Future Gaia releases will likely facilitate the discovery of dozens more. binaries: spectroscopic, stars: black holes Information Accepted manuscripts Accepted manuscripts are PDF versions of the author's final manuscript, as accepted for publication by the journal but prior to copyediting or typesetting. They can be cited using the author(s), article title, journal title, year of online publication, and DOI. They will be replaced by the final typeset articles, which may therefore contain changes. The DOI will remain the same throughout. This content is only available as a PDF. (c) 2022 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https:/ /academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/ standard_publication_model) (c) 2022 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society Issue Section: Article You do not currently have access to this article. 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