Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international journal which publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics

Context. Gravitational waves from black-hole (BH) merging events have revealed a population of extra-galactic BHs residing in short-period binaries with masses that are higher than expected based on most stellar evolution models – and also higher than known stellar-origin black holes in our Galaxy. It has been proposed that those high-mass BHs are the remnants of massive metal-poor stars. Aims. Gaia astrometry is expected to uncover many Galactic wide-binary systems containing dormant BHs, which may not have been detected before. The study of this population will provide new information on the BH-mass distribution in binaries and shed light on their formation mechanisms and progenitors. Methods. As part of the validation efforts in preparation for the fourth Gaia data release (DR4), we analysed the preliminary astrometric binary solutions, obtained by the Gaia Non-Single Star pipeline, to verify their significance and to minimise false-detection rates in high-mass-function orbital solutions. Results. The astrometric binary solution of one source, Gaia BH3, implies the presence of a 32.70 ± 0.82 M_⊙ BH in a binary system with a period of 11.6 yr. Gaia radial velocities independently validate the astrometric orbit. Broad-band photometric and spectroscopic data show that the visible component is an old, very metal-poor giant of the Galactic halo, at a distance of 590 pc. Conclusions. The BH in the Gaia BH3 system is more massive than any other Galactic stellar-origin BH known thus far. The low metallicity of the star companion supports the scenario that metal-poor massive stars are progenitors of the high-mass BHs detected by gravitational-wave telescopes. The Galactic orbit of the system and its metallicity indicate that it might belong to the Sequoia halo substructure. Alternatively, and more plausibly, it could belong to the ED-2 stream, which likely originated from a globular cluster that had been disrupted by the Milky Way.

Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international journal which publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics

Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international journal which publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics

A sample of 97 galactic field Be stars were studied by taking into account the effects induced by the fast rotation on their fundamental parameters. All program stars were observed in the BCD spectrophotometric system in order to minimize the perturbations produced by the circumstellar environment on the spectral photospheric signatures. This is one of the first attempts at determining stellar masses and ages by simultaneously using model atmospheres and evolutionary tracks, both calculated for rotating objects. The stellar ages (τ) normalized to the respective inferred time that each rotating star can spend in the main sequence phase ($\tau_{\rm MS}$) reveal a mass-dependent trend. This trend shows that: a) there are Be stars spread over the whole interval $0 \la \tau/\tau_{\rm MS} \la 1$ of the main sequence evolutionary phase; b) the distribution of points in the ($\tau/\tau_{\rm MS},M/M_{\odot}$) diagram indicates that in massive stars ($M \ga 12~M_{\odot}$) the Be phenomenon is present at smaller $\tau/\tau_{\rm MS}$ age ratios than for less massive stars ($M \la 12~M_{\odot}$). This distribution can be due to: i) higher mass-loss rates in massive objets, which can act to reduce the surface fast rotation; ii) circulation time scales to transport angular momentum from the core to the surface, which are longer the lower the stellar mass.

We follow, using both optical spectroscopy and photometry, the "textbook" colliding-wind WR+O binary WR 140 through and between the periastron passages of 1993 and 2001. An extensive collection of high-quality spectra allows us to derive precise orbital elements for both components simultaneously. We confirm the extremely high eccentricity of the system, e = 0.881 ± 0.005, find an excellent match of the newly derived period to the previous estimates, P = 2899.0 ± 1.3 days, and improve the accuracy of the time of periastron passage, T₀ = HJD 2,446,147.4 ± 3.7. Around periastron, at orbital phases ~ 0.995-1.015, additional emission components appear on the tops of the broad Wolf-Rayet emission lines of relatively low ionization potential. The phase-dependent behavior of these excess line emissions points to their origin in the wind-wind collision zone, which allows us to place some limits on the orbital inclination of the system, i = 50° ± 15°, and half-opening angle of the bow shock cone, θ = 40° ± 15°. The relatively sudden appearance and disappearance of the extra emission components probably signify a rapid switch from an adiabatically to a radiatively dominated regime and back again. Multiyear UBV photometry provides one more surprise: in 2001 at = 0.02-0.06, the system went through a series of rapid, eclipse-like events. Assuming these events to be related to an episode of enhanced dust formation at periastron, we estimate the characteristic size of the dust grains to be a ~ 0.07 μm.