'We think most black holes form from violent explosions of stars, but this discovery helps call that into question,' a researcher said.
A 'black hole triple' system has been discovered for the first time, scientists announced.Black holes have only been spotted on their own or in a binary until this discovery, with a single star, neutron star or other black hole companion orbiting tightly around them.Now, according to a new paper in the journal Nature, the black hole V404 Cygnus has two stars orbiting around it at varying distances.
'Imagine you're pulling a kite, and instead of a strong string, you're pulling with a spider web,' Burdge said. 'If you tugged too hard, the web would break and you'd lose the kite. Gravity is like this barely bound string that's really weak, and if you do anything dramatic to the inner binary, you're going to lose the outer star.'The presence of the second star indicates that perhaps this black hole didn't have as strong of a natal kick as expected.
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