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An isolated stellar-mass black hole detected through astrometric microlensing

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Sahu_2022_ApJ_933_83.pdf (6.224Mb)
Date
06/07/2022
Author
Sahu, Kailash C.
Anderson, Jay
Casertano, Stefano
Bond, Howard E.
Udalski, Andrzej
Dominik, Martin
Calamida, Annalisa
Bellini, Andrea
Brown, Thomas M.
Rejkuba, Marina
Bajaj, Varun
Kains, Noé
Ferguson, Henry C.
Fryer, Chris L.
Yock, Philip
Mróz, Przemek
Kozłowski, Szymon
Pietrukowicz, Paweł
Poleski, Radek
Skowron, Jan
Soszyński, Igor
Szymański, Michał K.
Ulaczyk, Krzysztof
Wyrzykowski, Łukasz
Barry, Richard K.
Bennett, David P.
Bond, Ian A.
Hirao, Yuki
Silva, Stela Ishitani
Kondo, Iona
Koshimoto, Naoki
Ranc, Clément
Rattenbury, Nicholas J.
Sumi, Takahiro
Suzuki, Daisuke
Tristram, Paul J.
Vandorou, Aikaterini
Beaulieu, Jean-Philippe
Marquette, Jean-Baptiste
Cole, Andrew
Fouqué, Pascal
Hill, Kym
Dieters, Stefan
Coutures, Christian
Dominis-Prester, Dijana
Bennett, Clara
Bachelet, Etienne
Menzies, John
Albrow, Michael
Pollard, Karen
Gould, Andrew
Yee, Jennifer C.
Allen, William
Almeida, Leonardo A.
Christie, Grant
Drummond, John
Gal-Yam, Avishay
Gorbikov, Evgeny
Jablonski, Francisco
Lee, Chung-Uk
Maoz, Dan
Manulis, Ilan
McCormick, Jennie
Natusch, Tim
Pogge, Richard W.
Shvartzvald, Yossi
Jørgensen, Uffe G.
Alsubai, Khalid A.
Andersen, Michael I.
Bozza, Valerio
Novati, Sebastiano Calchi
Burgdorf, Martin
Hinse, Tobias C.
Hundertmark, Markus
Husser, Tim-Oliver
Kerins, Eamonn
Longa-Peña, Penelope
Mancini, Luigi
Penny, Matthew
Rahvar, Sohrab
Ricci, Davide
Sajadian, Sedighe
Skottfelt, Jesper
Snodgrass, Colin
Southworth, John
Tregloan-Reed, Jeremy
Wambsganss, Joachim
Wertz, Olivier
Tsapras, Yiannis
Street, Rachel A.
Bramich, D. M.
Horne, Keith
Steele, Iain A.
Funder
European Commission
Grant ID
860470
Keywords
Block holes
Gravitational microlensing
QB Astronomy
QC Physics
3rd-DAS
MCC
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Abstract
We report the first unambiguous detection and mass measurement of an isolated stellar-mass black hole (BH). We used the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to carry out precise astrometry of the source star of the long-duration (tE ≃ 270 days), high-magnification microlensing event MOA-2011-BLG-191/OGLE-2011-BLG-0462 (hereafter designated as MOA-11-191/OGLE-11-462), in the direction of the Galactic bulge. HST imaging, conducted at eight epochs over an interval of 6 yr, reveals a clear relativistic astrometric deflection of the background star’s apparent position. Ground-based photometry of MOA-11-191/OGLE-11-462 shows a parallactic signature of the effect of Earth’s motion on the microlensing light curve. Combining the HST astrometry with the ground-based light curve and the derived parallax, we obtain a lens mass of 7.1 ± 1.3 M⊙ and a distance of 1.58 ± 0.18 kpc. We show that the lens emits no detectable light, which, along with having a mass higher than is possible for a white dwarf or neutron star, confirms its BH nature. Our analysis also provides an absolute proper motion for the BH. The proper motion is offset from the mean motion of Galactic disk stars at similar distances by an amount corresponding to a transverse space velocity of ∼45 km s−1, suggesting that the BH received a “natal kick” from its supernova explosion. Previous mass determinations for stellar-mass BHs have come from radial velocity measurements of Galactic X-ray binaries and from gravitational radiation emitted by merging BHs in binary systems in external galaxies. Our mass measurement is the first for an isolated stellar-mass BH using any technique.
Citation
Sahu , K C , Anderson , J , Casertano , S , Bond , H E , Udalski , A , Dominik , M , Calamida , A , Bellini , A , Brown , T M , Rejkuba , M , Bajaj , V , Kains , N , Ferguson , H C , Fryer , C L , Yock , P , Mróz , P , Kozłowski , S , Pietrukowicz , P , Poleski , R , Skowron , J , Soszyński , I , Szymański , M K , Ulaczyk , K , Wyrzykowski , Ł , Barry , R K , Bennett , D P , Bond , I A , Hirao , Y , Silva , S I , Kondo , I , Koshimoto , N , Ranc , C , Rattenbury , N J , Sumi , T , Suzuki , D , Tristram , P J , Vandorou , A , Beaulieu , J-P , Marquette , J-B , Cole , A , Fouqué , P , Hill , K , Dieters , S , Coutures , C , Dominis-Prester , D , Bennett , C , Bachelet , E , Menzies , J , Albrow , M , Pollard , K , Gould , A , Yee , J C , Allen , W , Almeida , L A , Christie , G , Drummond , J , Gal-Yam , A , Gorbikov , E , Jablonski , F , Lee , C-U , Maoz , D , Manulis , I , McCormick , J , Natusch , T , Pogge , R W , Shvartzvald , Y , Jørgensen , U G , Alsubai , K A , Andersen , M I , Bozza , V , Novati , S C , Burgdorf , M , Hinse , T C , Hundertmark , M , Husser , T-O , Kerins , E , Longa-Peña , P , Mancini , L , Penny , M , Rahvar , S , Ricci , D , Sajadian , S , Skottfelt , J , Snodgrass , C , Southworth , J , Tregloan-Reed , J , Wambsganss , J , Wertz , O , Tsapras , Y , Street , R A , Bramich , D M , Horne , K & Steele , I A 2022 , ' An isolated stellar-mass black hole detected through astrometric microlensing ' , Astrophysical Journal , vol. 933 , no. 1 , 83 . https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac739e
Publication
Astrophysical Journal
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac739e
ISSN
0004-637X
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Description
Funding: L.W. acknowledges support from the Polish NCN grant Daina No. 2017/27/L/ST9/03221. J.-P.B. acknowledges support by the University of Tasmania through the UTAS Foundation and the endowed Warren Chair in Astronomy, and support by ANR COLD-WORLDS (ANR-18-CE31-0002) at Le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris and the Laboratoire d’astrophysique de Bordeaux. U.G.J. acknowledges funding from the European Union H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019 under Grant no. 860470 (CHAMELEON) and from the Novo Nordisk Foundation Interdisciplinary Synergy Programme grant no. NNF19OC0057374. T.C.H. acknowledges financial support from the National Research Foundation (NRF; No. 2019R1I1A1A 01059609). Y.T. acknowledges the support of DFG priority program SPP 1992 “Exploring the Diversity of Extrasolar Planets” (TS 356/3-1).
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/25723

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